


Huntresses and Foreigners

by Dan_Francisco



Series: The Long War Shuffle [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game), RWBY, Team Fortress 2, XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-06-10 14:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15293736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dan_Francisco/pseuds/Dan_Francisco
Summary: Weiss Schnee finds herself teleported to another world following an experiment with Dust. Thrust into the middle of a guerrilla war, Weiss must find a way home while helping in the fight against the aliens.





	1. Friends on the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> This is a reupload and partial rewrite/fix of this fic, which was originally uploaded on Fanficton.net. Since it's already there, I'll mostly be uploading it on here to fix grammatical and syntax errors I made when I first uploaded it, as well as expand upon and fix things I really should have when first writing. That said, I won't follow a specific uploading schedule, since I already have two other WIPs, so each chapter will be uploaded as and when I finish writing and fixing it. Enjoy!

Weiss had been in stranger situations, truth be told.

 

But nothing she had ever faced at Beacon, before or after, could have prepared her for this. Weiss found herself in a forest after a Dust experiment gone wrong, unsure of where she was. All she knew was she was in a forest, uncomfortably familiar, yet unknown at the same time. The air tasted dirty. The sky wasn't one she recognized. Not even the wildlife sounded familiar. She expected to find Grimm waiting for her with bells on, but the scene was quiet. Deep in the distance, she heard something that should be familiar, the roar of engines, but the noise, like so many others she had heard in the five minutes she had spent here, confused her. So close, yet so far in memory. Weiss picked herself up off the ground, brushing off her – _what?_ Why was she wearing the same outfit she did at Beacon?

 

Sensing something was very wrong, Weiss picked a direction and ran, hoping it would lead her to water, which it did. The water was just clear enough that Weiss could look into it and see her reflection. It wasn't her mind playing tricks on her – she had lost three years on her face. Somehow, some way, she had traveled back in time, but where the hell was she? Nothing made sense. From behind her, a voice called out in a strange language, and on instinct Weiss drew her weapon, prepared for battle.

“Don't move!” she challenged. “Where am I?”

In front of her were four people, one with a visible five o'clock shadow and outfitted in tactical gear, a knife strapped to his chest. The others were likewise in tactical gear, but they didn't look like the Hunters and Huntresses Weiss knew from home. They looked more like Atlesian soldiers.

“You...don't speak German?” the man with the knife asked, holding his arms up. As Weiss looked at him in confusion, he gestured for the others to lower their weapons, which they did after some hesitation.

“What's German?” Weiss asked, unrelenting in gripping her weapon.

“Well,” the man said, “you're in Germany. It's a fair assumption that you speak German. But, right, you don't know what that even is.”

“Keep talking,” Weiss said, keeping Myrtenaster centered on him.

“Let's take a breath here,” he said. “Can you maybe put your sword away?”

“It's not a _sword_ ,” Weiss retorted, mocking his speech. “It's a multi-action Dust rapier. And no, I will _not_ be putting it away until I'm satisfied with your answers.”

 

“Multi – you know what, never mind,” the man said, placing a hand over his chest. “I'm Central Officer Bradford. We picked up a strange signal emanating from this location, followed by an unusual explosion. Should I assume you're a part of that?”

“Maybe I am,” Weiss said, shifting her weight, “Who's 'we'?”

“I'm part of an international team fighting a resistance war against the aliens. We have a ship we use to keep ourselves from being tracked down and wiped out. I can take you to it, we have doctors there who can look at you-”

“I'm not sick,” Weiss insisted, stepping closer and raising the point of her rapier to level with his face. “Tell me how to get back to Mistral.”

“I'm...I'm sorry, I can't do that.”

“Why?” Weiss asked angrily. “Because you're associated with the White Fang? I should have known it.”

Bradford sighed, and held up a hand to stop her.

“Stop moving,” he said, “I have a sniper that has his scope right over your head. If you take another step towards me, he's going to shoot you. I'd rather not do that today.”

“You're bluffing,” she said. “I don't see anyone. Dust weapons lose their effectiveness at extreme ranges.”

Bradford sighed again. “I don't know what you think this 'Dust' technology is, but you're dealing with a 7.62x51mm bullet. It can and **will** kill you.”

 

“Do you know who you're talking to?” Weiss said, almost dumbfounded.

“Not really, no,” Bradford replied. “It'd be nice to.”

“I'm Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee Dust Company? The energy that fuels all of your weapons?”

“Ok, Miss Schnee,” Bradford said, “there's no….Schnee Dust Company, you said? I don't know what this Dust technology is. If _you_ do, I'd like to to take you to Dr. Tygan and after we make sure you're of sound mind, you're welcome aboard.”

“I'm not associating myself with terrorists,” she said, but...the offer had potential, she had to admit. If what this man was saying was true, then Weiss was truly out of her depth. Nothing she had learned could help her now.

“We're not terrorists,” Bradford said, his voice simmering with anger. “If that's all you think we are, then we can leave you for ADVENT to find!”

“Wait,” she said as they began to walk away, “what's ADVENT?” The four stopped, looking at each other curiously.

“You really don't know _anything_ , do you?” Weiss shook her head. “Alright,” Bradford said, “come with us to the _Avenger_. ADVENT might be sending their own patrol soon enough anyway.”

 

Reluctantly, Weiss lowered her weapon, sheathing it on her left side and falling in behind the strange people she had just met. They walked for some time through the forest, with each soldier cautiously checking every corner, every angle. They were clearly on the lookout for something, but for what, Weiss wasn't sure.

“You haven't answered me,” she said. “What's ADVENT?”

Bradford drew a sharp breath before explaining.

“Ten years ago, aliens invaded Earth. They infiltrated us to the common man, and...they won. ADVENT is what the aliens transformed themselves into. We lost a lot of good people trying to fight them. Many more have lost their lives fighting to keep the resistance alive.”

“Who is 'we'? Other than the resistance, of course.”

“XCOM,” Bradford answered, “Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. We were formed in 1962, a joint worldwide paramilitary reaction force to alien encounters. We weren't good enough back then.”

“In 1962?” Weiss wondered. “If it's only been ten years-”

“1962 was over sixty years ago,” Bradford corrected, to Weiss's shock.

“You've been serving in this force for sixty years?!”

Bradford actually...laughed. She didn't think this was something he did very often, not anymore at least.

“No, of course not, I was only with XCOM for a few years when the 2015 invasion began.”

 

Weiss slowed down, trying to process all of this information. So far, everything she had learned was making even less sense than when she first realized she was here. So much to learn, so much history that she couldn't comprehend. She could scarcely imagine a multinational force solely dedicated to countering _aliens_.

“How do you handle the Grimm issue?” she asked again, gaining a quizzical look from Bradford in response.

“What are Grimm?” he retorted, now his turn to be confused by unfamiliar terms.

“You know,” she said, hoping these people just called Grimm something else. “The creatures of destruction. Beasts with no soul, unable to use Aura. The beings attracted to negative emotions?” All of her descriptions just got her a more confused look from the older man.

“It sounds like we both have some explaining to do,” Bradford said, before gesturing to a ship setting down in front of them. The machine was...huge, totally unlike anything Weiss recognized from home. A ramp touched down, unfolding smoothly to allow them into what she assumed was the hull of the ship. “Welcome to the Avenger, Miss Schnee,” he said, allowing her to go ahead.

 

From the top of the ramp, a woman in an orange shirt with a green vest appeared, saying something to one of the soldiers as they walked past her.

“Shen,” Bradford called out, “let Tygan know we have someone of interest for him.”

“Yes, Central,” she said, before looking curiously as Weiss. “Is this who caused that massive signal?”

“I suppose so,” Weiss said, bowing gently to acknowledge her presence. “Weiss Schnee, Schn-” she stopped herself before she could finish introducing her company's name, forgetting that it apparently didn't exist here. How could these people not know about it?

“Schneschn?” the woman asked, tilting her head to the side.

“No,” Bradford corrected, “just Schnee.”

“Yes,” Weiss said, now quite thoroughly embarrassed.

“Ramp up!” someone deeper in the bay shouted, forcing Weiss, Bradford and the woman (who Bradford quickly introduced as Chief Engineer Lily Shen to Weiss) to head into the ship as the ramp went up. The soldiers Weiss was with dispersed, off to do whatever it was they were inclined to do. Off on the side, several people in various colored overalls, a few more in labcoats and in armor, stood by watching Weiss, Bradford and Shen with curiosity.

 

“Alright, Miss Schnee, this is Alexander Ludwig,” Bradford said, gesturing to a man clad in a lab coat and oversized red-shaded rubber gloves, using one of his gloved hands to push a pair of round glasses up the bridge of his nose. Underneath the lab coat, Weiss spotted a white dress shirt accented with a red tie. “He'll be escorting you to Dr. Tygan. Stay by him at all times.”

“I'm not a child,” Weiss said, perhaps a bit harshly, as Ludwig's harsh eyes sized her up. He said something to her, was this the language Bradford referred to as German?

“Doc,” Bradford reminded, “she doesn't speak German. English only.”

Ludwig looked almost offended, if she didn't know any better, and he shook his head, saying, “Vhat a disgrace.”

 

Sighing and grabbing her arm, Ludwig led her down a series of corridors, lecturing her along the way. “Such a fine German name, and cannot even speak a lick of it. Pah! I will teach you, _mein Fräulein_ , perhaps you vere dropped on your head as a _kinder_. Ah...for vhat it's vort, I don't believe you to be a child, no, ein _kinder_ vould be schreaming und yelling ze entire time.”

“Uh...thanks, I guess?” Weiss said, unsure how to really answer what he was talking about.

Why was he speaking so strangely? Nothing made sense to her any more, though she debated whether it ever did in the first place. Finally, she and Ludwig reached Dr. Tygan.

“Ah, Herr Doktor,” Ludwig said, changing from the dark tone of voice he had used with Weiss to an unnaturally cheery one, “ze new patient has arrived!”

Tygan turned around, revealing him to be wearing glasses as well, but instead of Ludwig's neatly trimmed hair, Tygan's head was shaved completely bald. Scars dotted the back of his head, of what Weiss didn't know.

“Oh, excellent,” Tygan said, setting down a notepad to exchange it for another. “You both arrived earlier than I expected.”

“Oh, you know how it is viz Zentral,” Ludwig said, shooing Weiss away to sit on a nearby chair. “Alvays vants zings done fast _und schnell!_ ”

“Yes,” Tygan replied, clearly not paying attention to what the other man was saying. “Um, Doctor, I do need to monitor this experiment of mine more closely. If you could do Miss Schnee's basic mental exam, I would be very grateful. I can pick up on the advanced one after I finish this.”

 

“Ah, of course,” Ludwig said, though Weiss could tell he detested the very idea. “Right avay, _Herr Doktor!_ ”

As Dr. Tygan nodded and turned to monitor his experiment, Ludwig turned to Weiss, grabbing a notepad and a pen to do his work, taking a seat opposite of her.

“Alvright,” he said, pressing a button on a nearby device. “For ze rekord, tell me your name _und_ birthplace.”

“My name is Weiss Schnee and I was born in Atlas.” Ludwig raised an eyebrow, glancing up at her as he wrote, but continued regardless.

“Mhm. _Und_ your age?”

“20 years old.”

“ _Wunderbar_ ,” he said. Why did he keep using these words? Weiss didn't recognize a single one. “Do you know your left from your right?” Weiss gave him a quizzical look.

“Yes, this is my left, and this is my right,” she said, raising her hands in turn.

“Let ze rekord reflect zat ze patient correctly identified her left und right,” Ludwig said, seemingly to nobody.

“Who are you talking to?” Weiss asked, looking around.

 

Ludwig, curiosity overtaking his face, picked up the device and held it in front of him. “Do you know vhat zis is?” he asked, staring at her quite intensely.

“No,” she said, “should I?”

His face unchanging, Ludwig put the device down and wrote something on his notepad.

“Let ze rekord reflect zat ze patient did not know vhat a recording device is,” he said, again to seemingly nobody.

“ _That's_ what that is?” Weiss asked, pointing to the small box. It seemed so...strange. She knew they existed. Why did they look different from home? Why has everything in this world so far been such a radical departure from what she knew?

“Ah, if you could, hold your head shtill und follow my finger.” Weiss did so as Ludwig moved his finger back and forth across her field of view. Ludwig again noted that she did so adequately.

“OK, do you know vhere Berlin is?” Weiss shook her head no. “Do you know vhere London is?” Again, Weiss shook her head no. “Do you know vhat _year_ it is?”

Weiss could sense he was getting impatient, and answered, “2025, I believe.”

Ludwig muttered something she couldn't understand, nodding and saying to the recorder, “Let ze rekord reflect zat ze patient did not know vhere Berlin und London vher.”

 

“Alright, Doctor Ludwig, I believe I can take it from here,” Tygan said. Ludwig nodded, moving from his seat and standing nearby, ready to take notes. Tygan had a notepad of his own, and started by sitting down and offering his hand to her. Weiss took it, and the two shook hands. “Hello, I'm Dr. Tygan, as I'm sure you've gathered. May I get you anything before we continue?”

“No, thank you,” Weiss said, unsure how to handle the sudden hospitality. She expected Tygan to be almost the same as Ludwig, if less...strange...in his manner of speaking.

“Tell me more about this Atlas, where you were born.”

“Well,” Weiss said, “it's the only city on the Solitas continent, since the rest of it is covered in ice. This makes the rest of the continent uninhabitable for Grimm and humans alike. Atlas itself is the headquarters for my family's company, the Schnee Dust Company, and the head of the Atlesian military. I saw some of our equipment being used by your soldiers, or at least I think it is.”

 

“These Grimm,” Tygan said, making notes as she talked, “what are they?”

“Like I told Central Officer Bradford,” Weiss explained, “they're creatures without a soul who cannot use Aura. They're drawn to negative emotions and terrible events. Conventional weapons can't defeat them.” Ludwig said something in what Weiss assumed was German, and Tygan hushed him before turning back to Weiss.

“So, what _can_ defeat the Grimm?”

“Dust weaponry, what my family's company specializes in. We use Dust for everything from powering airships and androids to propellant for weapons. Here, I have some in Myrtenaster.” As she began to unsheathe her rapier, Ludwig interrupted her.

“Ah, _Fräulein_ Schnee,” he said, causing her to pause for a moment, “Are you avare zat Myrtenaster is German for a family of flowers typically found in a white color?”

“No,” she said. “I don't know what this German is you keep talking about.”

“Zen how did you come upon zis name?”

Weiss's eyes darted from side to side, trying to find an answer but finding none.

“I don't know,” she said, “It just came to me when I made this weapon. Do you want to see the Dust I have or not?”

 

“By all means,” Tygan said, motioning for her to continue, “but, if you would allow me to examine your weapon before you extract this 'Dust'.”

Reluctantly, Weiss took out Myrtenaster and handed it to Tygan, who marveled over the craftsmanship of the weapon, noting it's similarity to a rapier. Weiss quickly informed him it _was_ a rapier.

“Fascinating,” Tygan said as he continued to examine it, “and this chamber within the hilt contains Dust?”

Weiss nodded, “I can take one out if you let me have it back.”

Tygan did so, and Weiss deftly unlocked Myrtenaster's loading chamber to take out a Dust crystal.

“Amazing,” Tygan said. “Ah, let the record show that Miss Schnee is holding a small crystal, green in color and completely opaque.”

“Like I said, this is used for everything from energy production to weaponry.”

“Well, with your permission of course, we will need to examine this further. Now, moving on,” Tygan said, much to Ludwig's pleasure. “Do you know how you got here, to Earth? What were you doing before you sent out that massive signal and creating that explosion?”

 

“I don't know anything about an explosion,” Weiss said. “I was experimenting with a new form of Dust I found in the workshop. I thought it could enhance my abilities.”

“And this experiment,” Tygan pressed, “do you know what happened when you conducted it?”

“I remember a bright light,” Weiss said, “and then suddenly I'm in a forest, three years younger. Your guess is as good as mine, I suppose.”

“Hold on,” Ludwig said, pushing his glasses back up and chuckling, “you mean zat you vere 23 when you did zis experiment?”

“No,” she said, “I mean I was 20 when I did it, and now I'm 17. Well, my body is, anyway. I'm in the same clothes I wore when I was going to school.”

Tygan stroked his chin, having long stopped taking notes. “Most intriguing indeed,” he said, “Miss Schnee, has Central briefed you on the situation we currently face?”

“The aliens? Yes, he spoke to some degree of it, but...I don't think this is my fight. I'd be happy to help, but I'm not sure if you need it, the way he was talking.”

Tygan nodded, standing up as he did so. “Miss Schnee, thank you very much for answering our questions. I'm sorry to have to say this, but we will need to keep you contained until we're sure we can trust you. If you would,” he said, gesturing to her weapon.

Weiss's eyes narrowed. They wanted to disarm her, _now_ of all times? The familiar noise of a weapon being prepared caught her attention, and she saw Ludwig had produced a pistol, keeping it low, but obviously prepared to use if necessary. Weiss sighed. She really had no choice, did she?

“Fine,” she said, handing over her weapon to Dr. Tygan. “But you better not damage it! And don't you dare run any tests on my Myrtenaster if I'm not here to supervise you!”

Sufficiently disarmed for Tygan's purposes, Ludwig led Weiss to a nearby containment cell.

 

At least, that's what she assumed it was. It reeked of death, and strange fluids and stains marked the walls.

 

A lock and key later, and here she was. Captured again. What terrible luck.


	2. Fugitive Motel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss meets the crew and soldiers of the Avenger, with more than a few odd characters in play...

What must have been a couple of hours later, Weiss was stirred from her slumber by voices outside her cell. How she was even able to sleep in this dismal place was eluding her, but more importantly, she could tell the voices were talking about her.

“This is her cell, right?” That was clearly Central Officer Bradford.  
“Ah, _ja,_ ” And there was Ludwig. That asshole.  
“Alright, Ludwig, you observed her from when we picked her up. What's your assessment?”  
“Vell,” he said, “In my professional opinion, she ist ein Cloud Cuckoolander. Completely and clinically insane!”  
“Right, and Tygan told me the same thing about you,” Bradford retorted. “OK. Unlock it.”  
Grumbling, Ludwig must have used his keys to unlock the cell, as the door opened soon, as Weiss saw Bradford standing in the doorway.  
“Are we all friends now?” Bradford asked, walking in with his arms crossed.  
“If I get Myrtenaster back, yes,” Weiss said, folding her arms as well.  
“Fair enough. Tygan wants to do some tests on it, but said he didn't want to do them without you there.”  
Weiss nodded. At least _someone_ was listening to her. “Do I have to stay in this cell forever? There's not even a bed.”  
“Well, the Avenger isn't a five-star hotel, that's for sure,” Bradford said, “but no. You're not staying here, you'll be transferred to the barracks. This is used to contain any captured alien prisoners, usually.”

Weiss scoffed. Clearly she wasn't an alien. What reason did they have to imprison her?  
“Well, when will Dr. Tygan be conducting his experiments?”  
“Right now,” Bradford said. “Go ahead and follow Ludwig.”  
Stepping out, Bradford soon disappeared, no doubt off to do something of importance. Once again, Ludwig grumbled and motioned for her to follow him, taking her back to Tygan's lab.

“Ah, Miss Schnee,” he said, “I'm glad Central decided you weren't a threat, though I have a feeling the Commander may have personally intervened on your behalf.”  
“The Commander?” Weiss asked, curious.  
“Right, you may not have met them,” Tygan said. “No matter, the Commander will visit you when the time is right. They run everything related to the resistance effort, and their word is final.”  
“I see,” Weiss said. “Bradford said something about you conducting experiments with Dust?”  
Tygan nodded, waving her over to where he was examining the Dust crystals she had in Myrtenaster. “This is truly a remarkable subject you've brought to my attention,” he said, “but I'm afraid all of my efforts have been for naught. None of my equipment is registering this element as volatile in any fashion, nor radioactive. How exactly does Dust work, Miss Schnee?”  
“Well,” she said, preparing to dive deeply into the subject, “Dust is a naturally occurring element in Remnant. When activated by Aura, it functions as needed, whether as power for a machine or a cartridge in a rifle. Here – is there something I can use as a target?”

Both Tygan and Ludwig looked at each other, before deciding to lead her down to the range to test it in a less fragile environment. Once at the range, Weiss took aim at a wooden target, shifting her weight just so, carefully pressing the right sequence of buttons on Myrtenaster, and then…

Nothing.

She did it again. And again. She must have done it forty times before screaming, “It isn't working! Why?! What's going on?”  
“If I may,” Tygan said, stepping next to her and lowering her rapier, “you said this could be used as power for anything. What sort of technological advancements were your people capable of?”  
“Everything! We had flight, vehicles, androids, ships...” Suddenly, it hit her like a ton of bricks. “Of course! Dust couldn't be used as rocket fuel for space flight because outside of Remnant's atmosphere, it didn't work!”  
“And why did it not work?” Tygan asked, intensely curious.  
“I don't know,” Weiss replied. “I don't think we ever could figure that out. I remember reading we tried, but...”

Tygan stroked his chin, thinking very hard. “Logically, then, if Dust couldn't work outside of your world's atmosphere, then it can't possibly work here, unless of course the two atmospheres were remarkably similar, but I have no way of testing such a thing.”

“Ahm, if I may, _Herr Doktor_ ,” Ludwig chimed in, “but if zis 'Remnant's' atmosphere vas not compatible viz our own, zen how is _Fräulein_ Schnee able to breathe as comfortably as she is? If ze atmospheres vere different, zen her head vould be exploding under ze pressure or ze air vould be too zhin for her to breathe.”  
“Right, an excellent point,” Tygan said. “This is strange indeed. Perhaps the differences lie in minute changes that Miss Schnee is unable to perceive, but for this Dust, the changes are incompatible with the properties it has on Remnant. Intriguing, I haven't had such a puzzle since the first gene therapy clinics!”  
Tygan and Ludwig started to walk away, arguing with each other about theories on Dust's properties in this world, before Tygan turned to Weiss, saying to her, “Oh, uh, Miss Schnee, Mister Mundy can assist you in getting to the barracks. If I make any breakthroughs, I will ask to see you again, rest assured!”

Weiss, confused, looked around. “Who's Mister Mundy?” she asked, to which a rifle shot replied. A tall man with huge mirrored glasses, reminding her of the ones Yang used to wear, stepped out from one of the booths, carrying a long rifle in his hands. On his head was a strange hat, bent on one side. Maybe it was unintentionally bent and he hadn't noticed?

“Um, sir,” Weiss said, pointing to his hat, “Your hat is...bent.”  
“Yeah?” he said, a strange, almost gravelly voice coming from his mouth. “I heard you and the Docs talkin'. If you think I'm gonna babysit ya, you're wrong, mate.”  
“I don't need anyone to _babysit_ me,” Weiss said, getting angry. “I'm not a child.”  
The man let out a good laugh. “Yeah, coulda fooled me, kid. You barely look like you're outta high school. What're ya, 16?”  
Weiss rolled her eyes, folding her arms after sheathing Myrtenaster. “Twenty,” she replied. “And no, I'm not interested in whatever disgusting proposition you have for me.”

He let out another laugh, echoing across the empty room. “Oh, you're a real dag, ain't ya?” Chuckling, he added, “Bit of advice, ankle biter, don't call me Mister Mundy. Call me Alan, but don't bother remembering it. If I'm right about you, you got Buckley's chance out in the field.”

Weiss didn't feel like any of the words he was saying were making sense. Maybe they didn't. Maybe she was going insane, and this was all a dream. It sure beat facing the fact she was actually living this, so far away from home she was on a different planet.

“Alright, c'mon, kid, I heard word you're hosting up in the barracks, yeah?”  
“That's what Bradford told me, yes,” Weiss replied.  
Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, Alan put on a cocky grin as they headed to the elevator. “Yeah, like I said. Buckley's chance, kid. I'd wish ya good luck, but I gotta keep as much as I can, you know?”  
“I...guess so?” Weiss said.  
This day had been nothing but strange so far. She hoped that reaching the barracks would give at least some sense of normalcy. Already she could tell that this was really what they said it was, a full-on resistance. No other military outfit Weiss knew of would so callously allow such casual dress and appearance in their ranks.

The elevator brought them up several floors, and Alan led Weiss down another series of halls to a large open area, where dozens of soldiers, both male and female alike, sat on beds, worked out, talked to each other, and maintained weapons.  
“Woah!” someone shouted. Weiss turned her head to look who it was, which turned out to be another man, wearing glasses and with a goatee covering his lower face, clad in what looked like a hazard suit. Why was it bright orange? “When the hell did we start doing field trips?”  
Alan winced, waving the man away. “Ah, mind yer own bizzo, Freeman. Where's Price?”  
The man, who must have been Freeman, looked confused for a second, shifting his gaze between Alan and Weiss before pointing across the room. “Over there, I think,” he said, before turning away and doing something else. Alan muttered a barely-heard or acknowledged thanks before heading towards the direction Freeman pointed, motioning for Weiss to follow him.

“Don't mind Freeman, ankle biter,” Alan said. “He's a right bludger, but between you and me, if he weren't good at shooting aliens, he'd be left for dead.”  
After a few minutes of walking past bunks with an equal mix of confused looks and cold indifference, Weiss and Alan made it to who she assumed was Price. Alan immediately saluted.  
“Captain,” he said as he turned around, and the officer returned the salute. Weiss stood at attention, since it seemed only natural.  
“At ease, you two,” Price said, casting an odd look at Weiss.  
Price's voice sounded almost like Alan's, except Price seemed to pronounce his words more. He almost sounded like Velvet.  
“I know you,” Price said to her, and for a moment, she was excited. Finally, someone recognized her! “Dismissed, Mundy.”  
Alan nodded, and swiftly walked away. Price watched him head away, and then looked back to Weiss.  
“You're the kid I had orders to shoot if you stepped out of line in the forest this morning.”  
Instantly, Weiss's excitement faded away. So this was the sniper that Bradford claimed was watching over them.

“Well, you look different than I was expecting,” Weiss said. Price raised an eyebrow, unsure how to react.  
“From what I hear, you're quite the quirky little lady. So maybe both of our expectations are getting broken today. Where'd you learn how to stand at attention like that?”  
“At Beacon, sir,” Weiss replied. He didn't seem to recognize it. How could he have?  
“Never heard of it. Did Central say you could live up in here?”  
“In the barracks?” Weiss asked. “Yes. Yes he did, sir.”  
Price made a noncommittal grunt. So far, she wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. “Wouldn't be the first time we picked up someone from a strange event in the forest. Must be important, otherwise Central wouldn't bother keeping you around. You here to fight, kid, or are you a refugee or something?”  
Weiss swallowed hard. How could she fight? If Dust didn't work here, she had no way to fight.

“I'd like to fight, sir,” Weiss said after a while. “But my Myrtenaster doesn't work anymore.”  
Price looked at her, silently demanding answers, before Weiss clarified it was her rapier.  
“That thing?” he asked. “You're going to need something a little more modern than that if you want in on this fight. Amari!”  
Price's sudden shout for somebody new, another person in a seemingly endless parade of people, brought forth an old woman.  
“You called for me, Price?” Her voice was almost...sing-song. It had the rattle of the elderly in it, sure, but Weiss could still detect a vigor in it.  
“Yeah,” Price said to her, “This here's...ah, bloody hell, what's your name, kid?”  
“Weiss,” she answered, “Weiss Schnee.”  
“Right,” Price said, “Schnee. She's the kid I told you about, almost went and stabbed Central.”

“I see you still keep your weapon on you,” Amari noted. “Smart, perhaps. I'm surprised they didn't take it.”  
“They did, earlier,” Weiss explained. “Dr. Tygan wanted to run some tests on it.”  
“Oh!” Amari said, “where are my manners, Captain Ana Amari. So glad to finally meet the strange girl in the forest who stood against Bradford without fear.”  
“T-thank you, ma'am,” Weiss said. How many officers did they have here?  
“Get her set up with a proper weapon, would you, Amari? Her little rapier isn't going to do much against what they've got out there.”  
Amari nodded, leading Weiss to the armory. Throughout the ordeal, Weiss couldn't help but notice Amari's obvious eye patch, as well as the tattered cloak she shrouded herself in.

“Captain,” Weiss began.  
“No, no, no,” Amari said before Weiss could even get her question out, “call me Ana. I'm not as uptight as some of the young men around here.”  
Weiss nodded, before continuing, “Ana, if you don't mind me asking, what...happened to you?”  
“Ah, old history. Don't worry, I don't mind telling you children about it.” As Weiss looked over the weapons arrayed before her, Amari continued. “I was once a leader in a multinational organization, like XCOM but we were focused on keeping the peace. When the aliens invaded, we were on the front lines right alongside XCOM, but we didn't fight aliens.”

“Who did you fight, then?”  
Amari chuckled, handing her a rifle to check the weight in her arms.  
“We fought groups of people who thought we would be better under alien administration. Pro-alien terrorists. One of them took my eye. I took their lives.”  
“Wow...” Weiss said. Rarely had she seen such a display of raw talent and experience in front of her before, not since she had left Remnant.  
“You all have been fighting for decades. Back home...we haven't had to fight for nearly as long. We're in the same place you all were ten years ago.”  
Amari smiled slightly, nodding. “Everyone has their own place in history, child. I'm sure the fight at home will continue without you.”

“I don't know,” Weiss said.  
Even knowing she now had a place while she figured out a way to get home, this...this wasn't the world she wanted to be in. She had escaped one war, and been dropped into another.  
“Something's troubling you, Weiss,” Amari observed. “What is it?”  
“I just need to get back to Remnant, is all,” Weiss explained. “I don't belong here, wherever here is. Nothing in this world makes sense to me.”  
“It's always like that for new recruits on their first few days,” Amari said knowingly, like she had done this a million times. Maybe she had. “It will pass. It always does.”  
“No,” Weiss explained, “I mean, I literally don't belong in this world. I was dropped here, somehow, some way.”

Amari seemed to not quite understand, and just put a hand on Weiss's shoulder to comfort her.  
“I don't know your struggles, child, but you will find a way to overcome them. People are resilient like that.”

“I'm not a child...” Weiss said quietly, almost so quietly Amari didn't hear. But, well, she did.  
“Oh, I don't mean that in a bad way, my dear. When you're as old as I am, everyone is a child. Anyway, how do you like these weapons? You'll need more than your rapier if you want to join us.”  
“None of these feel right,” she commented. “I never used anything like this back at home. It was always just me and Myrtenaster.”  
“Ah, you named your weapon, a good trait for a warrior. But, like all warriors, it's always best to have skill with all weapons. Do you prefer close range or to fight at a distance?”

“I suppose...distance. Not too far. I want to stay with my team when I can, support them.”  
Amari nodded, taking the rifle she held away from Weiss and handing her another one.  
“This is the G36C, a German weapon. You have a thirty-round magazine, and once trained you can swap magazines in less than two seconds. Effective at all but the most extreme ranges, but the extreme ranges are what you have me for.”

“What do you mean?” Weiss asked.  
“Why, I'm a sniper, dear. I'll take care of anything you can't. Anyway, go find a bunk, I'll make sure one of these rifles is secured for your use. We'll begin your training tomorrow.”  
“But, I have training!” Weiss protested.  
“Oh, you do,” Amari said. “Do you know how to assault a fortified enemy position?”  
“Uh,” Weiss stuttered.  
“Where's the safety on this weapon?” Amari asked, pointing to it.  
“I… I don't know,” Weiss answered.  
“So you don't have training. Like I said,” Amari continued. “We'll start tomorrow. Don't worry, child, we all have to learn sometime.”

Amari began to fill out paperwork of some kind, leaving Weiss to her own devices. With no other real orders, or anything else to _do_ , Weiss headed over to the forest of bunk beds to find one of her own to call home. She noticed each one had a metal sign denoting who it belonged to. Were there even any empty beds left? How many soldiers did they even _have_ on this ship anyway?

After what felt like years of searching, she managed to find an unoccupied bed, sitting on it. Each bed had a footlocker at both ends of the bed, one padlocked, the other left open for someone like her to fill with her things. The only problem was she didn't _have_ any things. None of her personal effects other than her clothes and Myrtenaster had made the journey to this strangle world. Now having been granted a reprieve in the midst of what so far had been nothing but madness, Weiss couldn't help but think of home.

All the people she left behind, wondering what had happened to her. Did they know she was gone? Were Ruby, Blake and Yang out there with Nora, Ren and Jaune, looking for her? How safe was Remnant now? How long had it even been when she left? Weiss had no way of knowing whether she had been gone one day or weeks, or months.

“Hey, kid,” said a gruff voice, “What are you doing in here? This is no place for you.” Weiss got off the bed, standing before the new voice. He looked at her suspiciously, cradling a helmet in his right arm, clad in armor that was almost blindingly white save for a shoulder piece accented in blue.  
“I'm Weiss Schnee,” she introduced herself, “Central Officer Bradford told me I could stay here.”

The new arrival continued to cast suspicious eyes upon her, almost as if he were sizing her up as a potential threat. “Is that right? Does Captain Price know about this?”  
“Yes, he does,” Weiss reported, staring him down. This man had no reason to be suspicious. Weiss knew she was in the right here.  
“I see,” the man said, placing his helmet on the top bunk. “Tell me something, kid, what's Captain Price look like?”

Weiss looked at him strangely. Why would he ask that? Regardless, she answered, “He's about as tall as you, with brown facial hair. Neatly trimmed, except he keeps his chin entirely shaved. Mustache and the sides of his face have hair.”

The man begrudgingly nodded, admitting, “Alright, you _do_ know Price then. Fine, you can stay here, but if I find out you lied, I'm throwing you off this ship myself, is that understood?”  
“Understood,” Weiss said.  
Almost immediately, he snapped again. “ _Hey!_ You will address me as 'Captain', is that understood?!”  
“Yes, Captain!” Weiss replied back. Apparently satisfied, the Captain hopped onto his bunk. Weiss did the same, practically collapsing on the bed that was entirely not wide enough.

What a day.


	3. Rise Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss finishes training, and goes on her first combat mission with Captain Price.

The next few days had her and Captain Amari training, with the captain giving her instructions in how to properly handle her new weapon, even encouraging Weiss to give it a name. After a few lessons, Weiss decided the weapon's best name was Twilight, owing to its dark black construction. If a little slowly, Weiss eventually learned how to load the magazine, replace it in the weapon, prepare it to fire, and zero in the sights, though she wasn't sure she would ever need to do so.

 

“Don't doubt the iron sights, Weiss,” Amari said. “Not everyone likes to fight fairly.”

“Oh, I don't worry about that,” Weiss replied.

As the week went on, Weiss eventually learned the proper shooting technique, getting lessons from both Amari and Price. The differences in their training methods were almost night and day. Amari preferred to lower the weapon for Weiss if she held it too high and give her advice during shooting, while Price observed from a distance and criticized her until she got it right. In a way, both were effective. Both officers instilled in Weiss the confidence she needed to safely handle the weapon, until Price finally deemed her ready to begin conducting tactical exercises.

“For this one,” Price said, standing before a mockup of a building of some sort, “you will be using live ammunition. You will climb up that tower there, grab the rope when ready, and follow my exact instructions throughout the exercise. Is that understood?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Weiss said, with Twilight slung over her shoulder.

“You will need to finish this course as fast as possible. Speed is of the essence here. Go up the tower and grab the rope when ready.”

Nodding, Weiss did so, noting that, quite honestly, she wasn't sure how the Avenger could host a facility of this size. Breathing deeply, Weiss clutched onto the rope.

“Fast-rope down! Go go go!” Price called out, and like she had been trained to do, Weiss slid down the rope to the top floor of the mockup.

“Engage the targets!” Three targets popped up in front of her. Weiss took aim at each one in turn, putting three bullets in each one.

“Down the stairs!” Spotting a set of stairs to her right, Weiss headed down them, where Price ordered her to move left and engage more targets. Each order she executed swiftly and without question. Three more rooms, one more floor, and then a rush to an arbitrary point to finish the exercise.

 

Weiss stopped to catch her breath, surprised by the exertion of running the “kill house”, as Price had lovingly dubbed it.

“Good job, Weiss,” Price said, walking over to her, “You ran the kill house in thirty seconds flat. That puts you top 3 among recruit times.”

 

“Thank you, sir,” Weiss said, still panting heavily. “Who was faster?”

Price looked over the list he had in his hand, before saying to her, “Killip and Freeman both had faster times than you. Killip holds the all-time record at 16 and a half seconds.”

Putting out a thumbs-up, Weiss finally began to regain her breath and composure. “Who's Killip?”

“Ranger. Bit of a nut job, but who here isn't? He's out on a mission right now, so you haven't met him. Don't worry, you won't forget him.” Handing her a bottle of water, Price ordered Weiss to go and rest for a while. As she did so, she saw Bradford walk into the room, making a beeline for Price. Price saluted, standing at attention, as Bradford returned it allowing him to relax.

 

“Surprise to see you, Central,” Price began.

“Save the formalities, Price,” Bradford said, cutting him off. “We picked up remnants of a signal almost exactly like the one that brought us to Schnee. Is she ready for combat?”

“Combat, sir? You expect ADVENT to be nearby?”

“I'm more worried that this signal might bring the creatures Schnee talked about in her little chat with Tygan.”

“The things she claims conventional weapons ineffective against,” Price concluded.

“Exactly. Is she ready or not, Captain?” Price deliberately slowed his breath. From where she was, Weiss couldn't tell if he was thinking hard or trying to find a way to phrase his next words.

 

“Schnee! Get over here,” Price called out. Weiss immediately jumped up, heading for them.

“Yes, sir?”

“Schnee, do you think you could handle the creatures you talked about without your Dust technology?”

Weiss took a moment to think. “It's certainly possible,” she replied, “it depends on what kind we get.”

“That's a chance we have to take, Price. We can't let ADVENT get their hands on these things if they're there.”

“I agree, sir,” Price said, nodding. “Alright, Schnee, you're cleared for duty. Go to the armory and pick yourself up a rig and enough ammunition to fill five magazines in your rifle.”

“Yes, sir,” Weiss said, heading off to the armory. It had just occurred to her that this was the new reality she faced. Already she had traded in her signature dress for more appropriate battlefield gear, a type of camouflage outfit that everyone said came from Germany. Oddly enough, on both of her sleeves the pattern was broken up by a small rectangular patch, marked with a black, red and yellow stripe. Ludwig insisted she was from this country that she never recognized, calling it Germany as well.

 

Either way, Weiss had done as Price ordered, and after about fifteen minutes of checking with Amari to ensure the combat rig was properly fitted to her, Weiss had loaded up her magazines and placed them in the pouches, ready for battle.

“This way,” Price said, leading her to the hangar. “This here's the Skyranger,” Price said, showing her a smaller craft. “We use this for tactical insertions into hostile zones.”

“It reminds me of the airships back home,” Weiss said. Soon enough, Weiss saw four other people, nobody she recognized so far, head onto the Skyranger.

“Stick with me, Weiss,” Price said, ordering a soldier to move to the opposite end of the Skyranger's transport bay so he and Weiss could sit next to one another.

 

“Listen up,” Bradford said, his image appearing on a screen in the Skyranger as it took off, “Shen picked up a strange signal emanating from this area in China,” as he told them this, another image popped up, a map of sorts but not one Weiss could recognize, with names she couldn't even pronounce. “It's similar to the one that we located before picking up Weiss Schnee.” As he said that, most eyes turned to her. Had everyone on the Avenger heard of her? They must have.

“There's concern that this signal is bringing creatures that we can't handle with conventional weapons. Schnee is there to make sure that if you come across them, you can take them down. Good luck out there, Bravo 4.”

After a short flight, the Skyranger set down its ramp, hovering in place as ropes appeared. The four other squad members quickly took the ropes down, disappearing into a heavy fog that had settled over the ground.

“Just like in training, Weiss,” Price said above the roar of the engines. “Let's go!”

 

Upon landing on the ground safely, Weiss and Price rejoined the squad in the thick fog.

“Can't see a damn thing in this,” someone commented, causing another to shush them. Another sound loomed overhead, like the Skyranger's engines, but it had departed as soon as Weiss and Price had touched down.

“Must be ADVENT,” Price said. “Their scans can't find us in this fog. Maintain this interval.” Slowly, they made their way closer and closer to the target area, some one hundred meters from where they had been dropped off. The sound of weapons fire forced them to the ground.

 

“Where'd that come from?” Price asked, trying to peer through his scope to find out more.

“Sounded close,” somebody else said. “Wasn't aimed at us though.” About as loudly, Weiss could hear shouting.

“Is that ADVENT?” she asked, causing the other squad members to look at her strangely.

“No,” someone said, giving her a pointed look. “That's Chinese. Jesus, have you never heard Chinese before?”

“No?” Weiss said, but it didn't seem like the man cared.

“Captain, if we came across Chinese rebels, I can find out if they saw anything.”

“Do it,” Price said, “keep close, all of you. If they're shooting at ADVENT, we're liable to get caught in the crossfire. Wu, you go ahead and make sure they don't shoot at us, yeah?”

“Will do, sir.” Wu stood up, heading into the fog and disappearing, shouting in what Weiss now knew to be Chinese. After a short exchange, Wu yelled at them to come on in.

 

Weiss and the squad headed closer, unsure what they'd find. Wu and the other people were talking to one another, pointing in a different direction.

“What's going on?” Price asked.

“Sir,” Wu said, “they're saying they found a woman here when ADVENT rolled in on them. The woman ran off, but she has a weapon.”

“Nothing like those Grims or whatever?” Price asked.

“Grimm,” Weiss corrected.

“No, they don't know anything about that. All they said they found was the woman.”

Price grunted. “Alright, they said she ran off that way? Did ADVENT follow her?” Wu nodded. “Right, looks like we have ourselves a little rescue mission.”

 

Getting on his radio, Price informed Bradford, “Baseplate, this is Bravo Actual. No reports of the beasts Schnee talked about. Tracking a woman who might have had something to do with the signal, over.” Seconds later, Bradford confirmed he heard them, and told them to continue their mission.

“Baseplate, further information. Locals report ADVENT heading to her. We might have a fight on our hands here, over.”

“Understood, Bravo Actual,” Bradford said, “If ADVENT found her, make sure they don't live to tell about it. Out.” Price nodded, and ordered the squad to move out. They soon began trekking across a valley, where the fog began to clear out. Off in the distance, they could hear more weapons fire.

“That's got to be our woman,” Price said, “Double-time, let's go!” The squad began running, heading towards the sound of the gunfire. By now, the fog had totally cleared, and they could see ADVENT soldiers surrounding a woman, completely besieged.

“Alright, I'll post up here,” Price said, “Svenson, stick with me and provide supporting fire, the rest of you, move cover-to-cover until you reach her!”

 

Bounding from one rock to the next, Weiss headed closer towards the encircled woman as Wu yelled in Chinese for her to pay attention to them, to let her know help was coming. Between taking cover near rocks, Weiss took potshots at ADVENT troopers, accentuated by rounds being fired by Price and their machine gunner.

After closing the distance with the woman, Weiss and the other squad members began clearing out the ADVENT forces, which by now were trying to deal with both the woman (who was very rapidly whittling them down herself) and the newly-arrived XCOM squad. Eventually, the dust cleared, and Wu again called out in Chinese for the woman. Again, Wu repeated himself. No answer.

“Wu, what the hell's going on down there?” Price asked. “She looks ready to use that thing against you.”

“I don't know,” Wu said, “maybe she doesn't speak Mandarin?” Weiss peeked out from her cover to get a look at the woman. It was…

 

_Yang?_

 

“Don't make me use this, buddy!” Yang shouted at Wu, aiming a shotgun at him.

“Wu, she's getting ready to pull that trigger,” Price advised.

“I know, I know,” Wu said, panicking slightly.

“Wait, hold on,” Weiss said to the squad, “I know her, let me talk to her.” Wu looked at Weiss like she was crazy, but relented anyway. He backed away, with Yang tracking his every movement.

 

“Yang?” Weiss asked, noting that like her, Yang too had lost three years. Yang's shotgun immediately swiveled over to Weiss, causing her to put her hands up before Yang realized who it was.

“Oh my god, Weiss,” she said, dropping the shotgun and running to embrace her. “What's going on? Do you know how weird this all is?” Yang stopped, looking at her clothing and frowning. “What the hell are you even wearing?”

“I can get you answers, Yang, trust me,” Weiss said, trying to comfort her.

“No, you don't get it, Weiss,” Yang said, “Ember Celica doesn't work, my fucking arm's back, and these people keep shouting at me, and I can't understand them. I was out looking for you, Weiss, and all of a sudden I'm here.”

“You...you were looking for me?”

“Well, of course, stupid,” Yang said, cracking her signature smile. All of the stress Yang had just moments ago melted away. “You just up and disappeared one day. Nobody knew where you were.”

“I'm not sure if I do, either,” Weiss said.

“Schnee,” Price said over the radio, “I hate to break up the party, but ADVENT's bringing reinforcements. We need to get out of here. Skyranger can pick us up close by.”

“Understood, sir,” Weiss said.

“Weiss,” Yang said, clearly still distraught, “Where's Ruby? Where's Blake? Where's _everyone?_ ”

“Like I said, Yang,” Weiss said, still trying to keep her calm, “I can give you all the answers you need. But I can't do it here. Come with us.” Weiss moved to rejoin her squad, but Yang remained where she stood, staring blankly ahead. “Yang?”

“What's wrong with her?” Price asked.

“Weiss, how do I know this is real? I mean, we're both younger, my arm's back...if I didn't have to just fight those freaks, I'd think I died.” Weiss's heart dropped. Hell, for all she knew, Yang was right. Nothing made sense to Weiss, either, but how could she convince Yang that this was all too real?

 

Out of nowhere, Price came into the picture, stepping between her and Yang. “Right, I don't know who you are,” he said to Yang, “you're Schnee's friend, right? You two can have a nice catch-up session later. But more of these,” he gestured to the dead ADVENT soldiers, “are coming our way. Now, I could leave you here with an empty shotgun against them.”

“You wouldn't dare,” Yang said, angry.

“I'm not finished yet,” Price said, lighting up a cigar. “Or, I could bring you back to the Avenger and you can make yourself useful like Schnee did. I'm picking the latter option because I don't like leaving useful people to die at ADVENT's hands.”

“What the hell is ADVENT?” Yang asked.

“You'll learn,” Weiss said, grabbing Yang's arm, “Now let's go!”


	4. Friction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Weiss return to the Avenger, but more troubles are on the horizon...

Like with Weiss, Yang experienced something of a culture shock upon boarding the Avenger. She could scarcely believe that she was on another world, away from Grimm, from Ruby, Blake, everyone from home. Even the idea of there _being_ another planet so bizarrely similar to Remnant was something Yang couldn't begin to wrap her head around.

 

Then again, it was hard to wrap her head around _anything_ with all these questions these two were asking her.

“Miss Xiao Long,” the one named Tygan said, “I understand this must be uncomfortable, but-”

“But nothing,” Yang shot back. “Weiss told me she had answers. What's with the third degree?”

“Zere is nozzing to fear,” the weird one said, adjusting his glasses, “ve vill treat you vell.”

“Listen, pal, I've seen this song and dance before. You're just _acting_ friendly to keep me from tearing this place a new one.”

 

Yang heard the unmistakable sound of a weapon being readied, seeing the weird one called Ludwig holding a pistol. Yang didn't even bother reacting – she was faster than him, anyway.

“Miss Xiao Long,” Tygan continued, “from what I understand, you and Miss Schnee come from the same world, Remnant. Tell me about it.”

“There's nothing _to_ tell,” Yang answered, annoyed. “I live there, now I'm here. Woohoo.”

“Zis is certainly a change from _Fräulein_ Schnee,” Ludwig said, speaking to Tygan.

“I'm right here, you know,” Yang said, furrowing her brow at him.

“Und you have given nozzing zo far!” he admonished. “You're useless if you say nozzing.”

“I don't want to bore you with the story of how my world's screwed. Looks like you guys have enough problems already.”

 

“Hold on,” Tygan said, clicking his pen, “you said your world is in danger? How so?”

“What's it matter?” Yang shrugged. “You don't care. Just get me back home and I'll be out of your hair.”

“Well, we can't get you back home, Miss Xiao Long, so until we can, why not talk to us?”

Yang sighed, rolling her eyes. These two jokers really wanted a history lesson, huh?

“Alright, fine, I guess,” Yang said. “My sister, my friends, my family, we're fighting against a queen bitch that wants to plunge the entire world into darkness. She has some allies, but they're on the run, and I'm pretty sure we've managed to kill the only advantage she really had over us.”

 

As Tygan wrote this down, Yang shook her head, leaning back and folding her arms. This wasn't getting her anywhere.

“One more thing,” Tygan asked, “Miss Schnee discussed Dust when she arrived with us. What do you know of it?”

“I know I can't use Ember Celica. Weiss knows more about Dust than I do, really.”

“Und vat is zis Ember Celica you speak of?”

“These babies,” Yang said, holding up her gauntlets. “Usually I'd be able to knock you both around the room with them.”

“Fascinating,” Tygan said, “would you mind if we conducted some experiments on your gauntlets?”

 

Yang's eyes narrowed, staring down Tygan. Any smile she had before was gone now.

“Yeah, I _would_ ,” she warned. “Don't touch my weapon.”

“It doesn't _verk_ anymore,” Ludwig said. “Vat is ze issue?”

“How'd you like it if I took that peashooter of yours and rammed it up your ass?”

“Alright, I think we're done here,” Tygan said. “Doctor, if you would. Until further orders from the Commander, of course.”

“Vith pleasure,” Ludwig said, chuckling evilly.

Guards appeared from around the corner, and Ludwig gestured with his pistol for Yang to move.

 

Even though everything in her was screaming at her to fight, Yang could tell that fighting probably wouldn't help here. Doing everything possible to show she wasn't thrilled with this situation, Yang allowed herself to be led into a cell, where she was locked away for a few hours until released.

 

After the dumb exam from the doctors, Yang was led to the barracks, and told to find a bunk. Somehow, she managed to get one next to Weiss.

“I don't get it,” Yang said. “There's no Grimm, Dust doesn't work, and they keep saying I'm from this place called China. What is this place, Weiss?”

“I don't know,” she said, shrugging. “I think we're here because of that Dust experiment I did. What I don't know is how it affected you, or why so late. How long were you looking for me before you came here?”

Yang shrugged. “A week, I guess? We didn't really think about how long we were looking.”

“Hmm,” Weiss said.

“Dammit, Weiss,” Yang said, unimpressed with her musing, “this isn't helping. How are we going to get back home? These people are too focused on their own fight to help us.”

“I don't believe that,” Weiss said.

Yang couldn't even pretend to understand. “Are you joking? They can't help us!”

“What the FUCK,” somebody yelled, and Yang turned around to see Freeman standing before them. “Is this a joke?! Why the hell do we have these kids here?!”

“Who are you calling a kid, Blaze-Orange?” Yang asked, rising up and clenching her fists.

“I'm calling _you_ a kid, blondie,” Freeman said, pointing a finger at her. “Goddammit, this isn't a fucking playpen! And you! This one even has a _gun_! Are we handing them out like candy now?!”

“For your information,” Weiss said, folding her arms, “Captains Amari and Price allowed me to use this weapon. I'm qualified to carry it.”

“Fucking _monkeys_ are more qualified to handle guns than you two are!” Freeman shouted. “What kind of clown show is this? Am I going insane?!”

Yang clenched her fists tighter, ready to sock this idiot right in the jaw. “You better shut up _right now_ , traffic cone, or I'll launch you across the room.”

“What's going on down here?” somebody else said. “Freeman, shinies, I'm hearing a lot of yelling down here.”

“And who are _you_?” Yang asked. Freeman's smirk and Weiss's barely-subdued gasp told her she probably didn't want to have asked that.

“ _I'm_ Captain Rex,” the newcomer said, “as far as I know, _you're_ a freeloader on a military ship.”

“I'm not a freeloader,” Yang said. “I'm trying to get back home.”

“From what I understand,” Captain Rex replied, “you were already at home. Captain Price should have left you for ADVENT to find.”

“Captain!” Weiss protested, standing up. “That's a terrible thing to say! Yang wouldn't have been able to survive on her own out there!”

“If I want lip from you, shiny, I'll ask for it. Freeman!”

Freeman stiffened up, saying, “Yes sir, I'll be sure to throw them out first chance we get!”

“That's not what I was going to say,” Rex said. Yang couldn't tell what his face was saying underneath his helmet, but she was sure he was grinning. “I'm starting to get tired of you antagonizing everyone you see. Cut it out before someone decides to cut you down to size. Do me a favor and inform Captain Amari I'd like to see her.”

 

Freeman's face twisted in confusion, before nodding his head and running off to find Amari.

“As for _you two_ ,” Rex said, looking them over, “I already warned you about what happens if you lie to me. Blonde one, you're on notice. Keep your temper in check, otherwise I might have to do things I regret. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Yang said, nodding.

“Ah, for crying out loud, kid, _relax_ , would you?” Rex added, taking his helmet off and placing it on his bunk. “Just my luck you two shinies are below and next to me. I better not have any issues from you two.”

“None here, sir,” Weiss said.

“Nope, no trouble, sir.” Yang added.

Not long after, Amari came into view. “You wanted to see me, Rex?” she asked, letting her hood down to reveal her now snow-white hair.

“Yes, Captain,” Rex said, motioning to Yang. “This one seems a bit out of sorts. I'd do it myself, but...”

“You're not good with recruits, Rex, it's alright,” Amari said, waving a hand at him.

“Well, when you put it like _that_ , Captain,” Rex said sheepishly.

“Alright, come along, young one,” Amari said, motioning for Yang to follow her. Yang looked to Weiss for approval, to which she nodded. Sighing, Yang began to follow Amari across the barracks to the armory.

 

“So...” Yang said, unsure, “you're Captain Amari, right? Weiss told me about you.”

“Mhm,” Amari said, reminding Yang to call her Ana. “I heard Captain Rex gave you a little of a warning, hmm?” Yang laughed nervously, trying to conceal the terror she had for him.

“He's...uh, a little intense, yeah.”

Amari chuckled. “Intense doesn't begin to describe it. You three are more similar than you think, if what Weiss told me is right.” Yang looked at the older woman, unsure how to react.

“So...you know we're not from here?”

“Child, you have a Chinese name, but don't look or speak it. You barely even recognize things a person from here would. What other explanation is there?” Well, she _did_ have a point. None of it helped her figure out where she really was, or what she could do to get herself out of it. Was this how Weiss felt when she came here?

“Now, from what I hear, you like close combat,” Amari said, collecting several weapons and arranging them in front of Yang. “Go ahead, pick one of them up. See which one feels right in your hands.” Yang went to grab it, before realizing, once again, her arm was back. She almost kept forgetting about it, almost like she did when she first lost it.

“They don't bite,” Amari said, sipping on a cup of tea.

“Ugh,” Yang said, frustrated, “it's not that. I lost my arm three years ago. Now it's back, it's just...it feels weird.” Amari nodded, still sipping on her tea.

“I lost my eye ten years ago. Even now, I forget it's not there. They wanted to replace it, give me a bionic one, but I told them no.”

“I'm sorry, ma'am,” Yang said, frowning. “I don't see how that's similar.”

“I don't know how or why your arm is back, but perhaps it's for the better. After all, it's hard to use a weapon with a prosthetic.” Yang said nothing, looking at her arm that shouldn't exist anymore.

“I guess,” she muttered after a while.

“Now, go on,” Amari urged. “Test the weapons. Feel their weight.” Yang picked up each one in turn, rejecting some for being too heavy, others too awkward, until she found one she liked.

“Do you want to know what that is?” Amari asked. Yang nodded. “This is the Saiga 12, semi-automatic shotgun, magazine fed. Like with Weiss, we can train you to use it.”

“You...you'd really do that?”

“Of course, child, what use is it to send an untrained soldier into battle?” Yang wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't expected this sort of hospitality, especially not hot on the heels of being alternatively yelled at and probed.

“T-thank you, Ana,” Yang said, tears forming in her eyes. Almost immediately, Amari embraced her, taking the weapon out of her hands and placing it on the table.

“There, there,” she said to Yang, “It's rough being taken suddenly out of your home, I know. Go be with your friend, child. You've had a long day. Tomorrow, we begin your training.” Steeling herself to dry the tears away, Yang took a deep breath on her walk back to her bunk. If nothing else, at least Amari and Weiss had her back in all this.

 

Like with Weiss, Yang's training took the better part of a week, covering how to use her new weapon which she had taken to calling Valkyrie, basic tactics, and running the killhouse, where she scored a time faster than both Weiss and Freeman at 19 seconds even. Despite the recommendations of Price, Amari and Weiss, Yang refused to fully transition to wearing the camouflage and armor of other soldiers, instead mixing and matching new camouflage from a place called the United States with her old outfit.

 

It was almost like Yang was back to her old self, cracking jokes with the best of them, taunting Freeman, and smiling and laughing alongside Weiss until lights out. On the surface, at least, it looked like all was good. But to Yang, the nightmares of losing her arm kept coming back, to the night Beacon fell and she lost not just her arm, but Blake.

 

She kept waking up in the middle of the night, breathing heavily. She couldn't tell if anyone else ever noticed her, or that she kept sneaking off during dinner and breakfast to puke her guts out. Weiss certainly couldn't tell. As time passed and Weiss and Yang continued their training, however, somebody did take notice, and it was Captain Amari.

 

One night, after another one of her nightmares, Amari was standing at the foot of her bed, holding a finger to her lips to silence Yang's potential outburst.

“Come with me, child,” she said quietly, leading Yang to the hallway between the barracks and the Avenger's bridge. She sat her down on the floor, taking a seat next to a visibly nervous Yang and handing her a cup of tea.

 

“I've watched you for a while now, child,” Amari said in between sips of tea. “You skip meals. I hear you stir every night. Your friends don't notice it, but I do, Yang.”

“What do you want me to say?” Yang asked, holding the warm cup in her hands, not even pretending to take sips from it.

“I want you to tell me what's troubling you.”

 

Yang sighed. “Are you sure you want to hear all this?” she asked, not daring to look Amari in the eye, but she could tell the woman was nodding. Sighing again, she began, “I left my world on a mission to find my friend, and now I did. But...my sister, my other friends, my family, they don't know where I am anymore. I disappeared like Weiss did.”

 

“Hell, I can't even get over losing my arm. I'm having nightmares about losing it every night, reliving it. I try to change it in my dreams, but it always happens the same way. Now I'm stuck here, with Weiss, and nobody can help us get back home. I can't even imagine what Ruby's thinking.”

 

“Ruby is your sister?” Amari asked, sipping back more tea.

“Yeah,” Yang said. “She must be worried sick about me. I can't do this, Ana. I have to get home as soon as I can.” Amari nodded, setting the tea down.

“I can't fix your problems with a few kind words and a cup of tea, Yang,” she said, “but I can do what I can to make sure you're as comfortable as you can be.”

“I...thanks, I guess?” Yang said, noticing her cup was now cold.

“Your training is going well, Yang, but if you don't think you can fight, you just let me know. Nobody will fault you for stepping back.”

“I don't want to step back, though,” Yang said. “If helping you guys gets me back home, then I have to do that.”

“Not necessarily,” Amari said, taking the cup from Yang's hands. “You're confused, lost, angry. I understand. A lot of us were at one point. Not everyone has to deal with being in a totally different Earth than the one they woke up in that morning.”

“Ana, I-”

“Let me finish, child. I can't get you home right now. I don't know if I can. But, I think if you stay with us, you'll figure out a way to bring yourself back. We have good crew on this ship, Yang. If anyone can figure out how to get you and your friend back home, it's us.”

“I don't know if I can believe that, Ana.”

“I don't blame you,” Amari said. “I didn't believe it when I heard the aliens had won. I was in the middle of the desert, fighting with some of the bravest men and women I had ever seen. I refused to believe it for many years, until I happened upon a town that was totally under ADVENT control. That's when I knew it was real.”

“Why deny it? Couldn't you see what was happening?” Yang asked, curious.

“It's not easy to face hard facts, child,” Amari said. “I think you will one day. Just remember, if you ever feel overwhelmed, just let me know. We'll have tea and talk it out. Or maybe not, maybe we'll just drink tea in silence.” Somehow, this was actually working for Yang.

“Sure, yeah,” she said, “Thank you, Ana. Really.”

“Don't thank me yet,” she said. “Go back to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

 

Training continued as normal for Yang and Weiss, even with Yang ducking out occasionally to reorient herself with the world she now resided in. By now, both of them were intimately familiar with combat in this new world, probably more prepared than they had ever been at Beacon. For Yang, it was dragging on endlessly.

 

“This is pointless, Weiss,” Yang said as they cleaned their weapons. “How long have we been here?”

“At least two months,” Weiss replied, oiling interior parts.

“Exactly. Nothing we're doing is helping. They don't think we're worth their time, not worth going into the field to help them fight.”

“Captain Price said we're in the final stretch.”

“You believe that?”

Weiss shrugged. “I have to, Yang,” she said, reassembling her rifle. “It's the only thing stopping me from going crazy in here.”

Yang sighed, tossing her cleaning rag away. “God, this is such garbage. We should be out there, Weiss, _helping_ them, not sitting here cleaning weapons.”

“Cleaning weapons is good for you,” Captain Rex said, passing by. “Dirty weapons are the bane of every soldier's existence. Dirty weapons get you killed.”

“Right, sir,” Yang said, “my mistake.”

“Listen up, shinies,” he said, kneeling on his foot locker to level with them. “I get it's frustrating to not go into the field. Where I come from, garrison duty is the worst of it all. But, there's no sense in sending you two out before you're ready.”

“Captain Price thought I was ready when we found Yang,” Weiss pointed out.

Rex shook his head, sighing heavily, “Yeah, and I wish he hadn't done that. Granted, it did get us the blonde shiny, so I suppose it's not all terrible.”

“I have a _name,_ you know,” Yang said, glancing angrily at the Captain.

“I know,” he said, “but until I see you do something in battle, you're the blonde shiny. Don't worry, kid, you'll be out in the field soon enough.”

“See?” Weiss said once he had left, “we just have to finish training first.”

“How much more training do we _need_ , Weiss?” Yang asked. “We can shoot, we've gone over their tactics hundreds of times, both of us can recognize their enemies on sight. They're holding something back.”

“What do you want me to say, Yang? That there's a conspiracy or something?”

“No,” Yang replied. “I just want to know that you're as sick of this as I am.”

Weiss sighed, placing her rifle on her left side. “Do you think I haven't been waiting to go out either? There's a hierarchy here, Yang, and we have to follow it.”

“Maybe the hierarchy isn't all it's cracked up to be.”

 

Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered, then cut out. Multiple voices began shouting, before red lights came on, casting an eerie, hellish glow among the room. Over the PA system, Bradford told them, “The Avenger's systems are down! Brace for impact!”

 

“Impact?” Yang asked, to which Weiss shrugged.

“GET DOWN!” somebody else shouted, and both Weiss and Yang dove to the floor, trying to make themselves as small as possible. A thundering crash later, followed by horrific metal grinding against each other, and they came to rest somewhere. Alarms began to blare as back-up systems began to come online, restoring some functionality to the ship.

 

“All hands,” Bradford ordered, “report to the bay ASAP, we have confirmed enemy forces moving in on the Avenger.” Weiss and Yang grabbed their weapons, throwing them over their shoulders. Yang began to rush ahead, but Weiss was slowed trying to put her camouflage field jacket on.

“Weiss!” Yang shouted, “forget it! We don't have time!”

 

Weiss started running too, trying to put on her jacket and get her weapon over it at the same time as they made their way to the bay. A man in blue tactical gear and a helmet covering his eyes stood at the front.

“Listen up, maggots,” he shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the room, where he continued. “Our great ship is under attack by the _red_ team, and it is our duty as soldiers of this great ship to kill each and every last one of those _red team_ bastards!”

“What's he talking about?” Yang asked Weiss quietly.

“I have no idea,” she replied, just as meekly.

“FURTHERMORE,” he boomed, “we are going to go out there, give them hell, and kick some red team ass! I expect everyone to get at least one kill, if you return without a kill, I will send you back out there to fight and kill!”

 

With a resounding cheer from people who likely knew more than Yang or Weiss, the ramp began to drop. Over the PA system again, Bradford informed them that an alien device was disrupting the Avenger's systems. The mission of every soldier on the Avenger was to destroy that device by any means necessary. As the ramp hit the ground, Weiss, Yang and other soldiers began heading out, with sergeants shouting out orders for specific squads. Weiss and Yang, neither formally assigned to a squad, were quickly lost in the confusion. Who gave them orders?

 

“You two!” said the man giving the speech earlier. “What squad are you in?”

“We don't have one,” Weiss answered.

“Address me as SIR, cupcake,” he growled, “alright, since you two don't have a squad, you're on mine for this one.” Yang glanced at his uniform while he was talking to them, and spotted a small strip on his chest that said “Killip” on it. Was this the Randy Killip she and Weiss had heard so much about?

“Yes, sir,” Weiss said.

“Alright, _ladies_ ,” Killip said, speaking to the entire squad now, “we're pushing forward to kill every last alien we see!” Yang took a quick glance at the other soldiers in the squad – one man clad in mechanics overalls and a hard hat, another in a strange blue camouflage pattern made up of varying sizes of squares, a woman clad in gray tactical gear, and a man in a short-sleeve shirt and simple brown pants, a baseball cap adorning his head.

 

“Move, move, move!” Killip shouted, and the squad advanced forward despite enemy fire whizzing past them. Behind them, Yang could hear machine gun and sniper rifle fire, punctuated by the softer pops from assault rifles.

“This fire's too thick!” she shouted, “we're going to get shredded out here!”

Hiding behind a rock in a break in their mad dash to the front, Yang saw enemy rounds bouncing off the rock. She dared not peek out lest her head be ripped off, and she saw Killip not even five meters away, cheerily blasting his shotgun at the enemy.

“What the hell are you doing?! Get in cover!” she shouted at him, dragging him behind the rock.

“Are you trying for a Section 8, soldier?!” Killip yelled back. “You will _not_ turn my battlefield into a _campground!_ ”

“You were going to get yourself killed out there,” Yang said to him. “You should be grateful I saved you!”

“The only thing I'm grateful for,” Killip growled, “is that you're not on the red team. Keep it that way, cupcake!”

 

Yang, still not sure what the hell “red team” meant, watched as Killip scampered out from the rock to keep shooting at aliens. Noticing Weiss hiding behind her own rock, Yang looked at her, trying to confirm if Weiss saw and heard the same thing she did. Weiss shrugged, barely concealing confusion.

 

“Let's go, creampuffs!” Killip shouted again, charging forward after blowing a horn of some kind. Where did he even get that? Yang wasn't sure she wanted to know.

“There's the alien device!” the woman in gray shouted, pointing at a strange alien array at least two stories high.

“Everyone,” Killip ordered, “open fire on that device!”

 

As ordered, the men and women in the squad started shooting at it, and their combined fire destroyed it outright. “All units,” Bradford said over open comms, “Good work, the Avenger's systems are back online. Pull back to the Avenger, immediately.” Nodding to each other, Weiss and Yang broke for the safety of the Avenger, as other soldiers who remained father back covered their retreat.

 

All around them, bullets kept flying in both directions, and Yang was acutely aware of the screaming that was emanating from wounded soldiers. It shook her to her core, and not just because it reminded her of Beacon. She knew this was a real war, but still, to see and hear men and women dying, that changes someone.

 

“All surviving XCOM operatives secure,” someone said, pulling up the ramp. “Taking off!”

Yang collapsed on the bay, vomiting again.

“Yang!” Weiss said, running over to her and picking Yang out of her filth. Yang groaned, wiping her mouth clean.

“I didn't get any in my hair, did I?”

“No,” Weiss said, somehow able to laugh. “Just...all over the floor.”

“Somehow I think I would've wanted it in my hair.”

“Dammit, maggots!” Killip shouted, stomping over to them. “You're not fighters! You're weak worms! Who the hell let you into my squad?!”

“Uh, you did, sir,” the woman in gray said to him.

“Oh,” Killip said, deflated. “Regardless! You are formally OUT of my squad!”

“I don't think we wanted to be in it anyway,” Weiss said, still trying to keep Yang off the ground. As other soldiers began to return to their usual routines, including checking ammo levels and unloading their weapons, someone slid a bucket and a mop over to Yang and Weiss, telling them that the officer on deck's orders were they had to clean it up.

 

“Sorry I made you help me do this, Weiss,” Yang said as she moved the mop back and forth. “I don't know what happened.”

“It's probably stress,” Weiss said. “There's been a lot of times I've wanted to throw up.” Yang said nothing, focusing on the mop in front of her.

“Look, it's not your fault, Yang,” Weiss said, still trying to comfort her. “I'm sure it happens to everyone.”

“Yeah, well,” Yang said, full of despair, “it doesn't happen to me. I mean, come on, Weiss, I always had the reputation of being the toughest bitch around. Nobody respects me here.”

“Some of these people have been fighting for ten years, Yang,” Weiss reminded her. “They've lost a lot of people.”

“Maybe earlier, but now? They just sacrifice people,” Yang countered. “All I hear are stories. I stopped believing in stories a long time ago, Weiss.”

“So, just stories, eh?” Price said, stepping towards them while smoking a cigar. He stopped, looking at the floor they were cleaning.

“Looks clean enough,” he commented. “Xiao Long, come with me. Schnee, if you'd return that mop and bucket to it's spot, please.”

“Yes, sir,” Weiss said, heading off. Yang sighed. She hadn't done anything other than fuck up since she got here.

“My apologies, sir,” Yang began, “I shouldn't have said what I did.”

“What,” Price said in between drags. “Doubting the old war stories of veterans? I don't blame you. Hell, if I were you I'd doubt every word that came out of these people's mouths.” Yang was visibly confused. “Come on,” Price said, leading her out of the barracks.

 

“You're right to be skeptical,” Price said as they passed mostly-empty bunks, “Freeman thinks he stopped the alien invasion 16 years before it happened. Killip's totally lost it. Hell, half the people on this ship are probably complete sociopaths. If this were 2015, I wouldn't trust any of them as far as I can throw them.”

“If I may ask, sir,” Yang said as they walked out to the halls of the Avenger. “Where are we going?”

“The bar,” Price said, “I have something to show you.” Down several more hallways, Yang and Price walked into the bar, strangely lively considering just an hour ago most of these people were in the middle of active combat.

“Make way!” Price yelled, and people began moving out of the way to create a hole for him and Yang. Together, they headed to a secluded corner of the bar, and Price ordered the festivities to continue, and to leave him and Yang be. Yang found herself standing in front of a wall, covered in pictures of people, a mix of professional military-looking headshots and candid photos taken in happier times, no doubt.

“What… _is_ this?” Yang asked, scanning the names for something to clue her in.

“This here's the memorial,” Price explained. “Every soldier who's fought and died in XCOM's service is on here since we lost the war.”

“There has to be hundreds of people here,” Yang said, despondent.

“Keep in mind, this is the _organized_ resistance, Xiao Long.”

“Can you tell me about any of them?” Yang asked, trying to hold back tears. She didn't expect to be so moved by a dumb wall of pictures, dammit. Price seemed almost surprised, but obliged anyway. He pointed to a picture of a huge man, carrying an even larger gun. He seemed more like a shaved bear than a person.

“Mikhail Seryozachev,” Price said. “Ludwig and him used to be close. Same squad, stuck next to each other, we found them at the same time.”

 

Yang looked at his picture, and she could indeed see a much younger Ludwig standing next to him, smiling, almost proud.

“What happened to him?”

“Routine sabotage mission. Alien reinforcements came faster than expect, Mikhail caught a bullet to the leg. He demanded the others evacuate so he could hold them off. Never recovered the body.”

“How horrible. How did Mr. Ludwig take it?” Price winced and shook his head.

“Not well. Turned him into the man you see today.” Price pointed at another picture, this one of a man with a short mohawk, obviously taken in the middle of combat.

“This here's Soap. John MacTavish. Soap and I fought the aliens in the invasion, then again when they took over.”

“Real tough bastard, Soap was. He and I were raiding an alien ship for supplies when one of them hit him square in the chest. He died in my arms after I carried him back onto the Avenger.”

“Oh, my God,” Yang said. “I'm so sorry, sir. I had no-”

“Xiao Long, it's fine. Soap's death hit me hard, but we've all lost someone. I didn't bring you here to share a sob story, I brought you here because I needed you to see we have been sacrificing.”

“Of course, sir,” Yang said, looking down. Price placed a hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking it.

“Alright, Xiao Long,” he said, looking at her with sincere care in his eyes. “You care. That's good. You want to learn more about these people? Ask away. If I can't answer, I'll find someone who can.”

 

Over the next few hours, Yang learned about all of the people who had fallen in their service to liberate Earth. Tavish DeGroot, the Scottish one-eyed demoman, Aleksandra Zaryanova, the hero of Russia that held off hundreds of ADVENT soldiers with a PKM, Olivia “Sombra” Colomar, who hacked countless alien databases to deliver information before dying in a raid, Lanh Ngo, the Silent Death from Vietnam, and Fawziyya Naaji, the Iranian ready to hurl herself into any danger, to name a few.

 

All were heroes in Yang's eyes. All were dead now. Amari quietly took her out of the room when she saw what was going on, leading Yang back to her bunk.

“Why do you do this to yourself, child?” Amari asked as she practically pushed Yang into bed.

“I don't know,” she said, holding back tears. “Ana, if I die here, nobody will know what happened to me back home. Ruby's going to look for me forever, and she won't be able to find me.”

 

“Don't think about such things, Yang,” Amari advised, pulling a blanket over the dead-tired warrior.

“I can't help it,” Yang said, sighing. “Aura can't protect me here. Hearing all these stories, seeing the memorial...I'm afraid, Ana.”

“That's normal,” Amari said. “You can't let the rules of your old world make you afraid here.”

“I guess,” Yang said.

“Now get some sleep,” Amari said, standing to leave. The lights in the barracks began to darken as people filtered in from the bar, stumbling to their beds and getting themselves settled for the night. For Yang, sleep was fleeting. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the noise of the battlefield again, the screams of dying people. It was like living in hell.

 

How the hell was Weiss able to manage this? Weiss slipped into these uniforms, this organization like a pair of shoes. Why wasn't Weiss freaking out just as much as Yang was? She couldn't figure out what made them different. Where the hell did all of these doubts come from?


	5. Friend of Ours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Weiss, now in their own formal squad under Captain Rex, head out on their first combat mission as a new squad. But who are they picking up?

Apparently, Yang's insubordination actually got her some respect. Seemingly, nobody had really ever stood up to Killip before, and that earned her his respect and the admiration of dozens of crewmembers. Killip had even stopped calling her derogatory nicknames like “cupcake” and moved on to trying to say her actual name. Even though he rarely got it right (usually alternating between Ying and Yong) he at least tried.

 

This respect also lead to her and Weiss both approved for field operations, after what Captain Rex called “intense negotiations” between him, Price and Amari. Though Rex never said it outright, Amari and Price won. Therefore, Yang and Weiss were now assigned to Menace 1-5, a squad consisting of them, Freeman, Mundy, Ludwig, and Captain Rex. Captain Rex barely hid his lack of excitement about the assignment.

 

“Alright, squad,” Rex said during their first official squad briefing, “As I'm sure you know, we have two shinies with us, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. Treat them with respect, and I do mean you, Freeman,” Rex gave a rather pointed glare to the man, who Yang now learned was, somehow, holding a doctorate in theoretical physics.

 

“Sergeant Mundy,” Rex continued, “I've already deposited a map in your foot locker detailing the area of our next operation, codenamed Operation Blade's Edge. Review it when you can and pass along your notes to Lieutenant Ludwig.”

 

Weiss raised her hand. Yang desperately tried to get her to keep it down, knowing she was probably about to say something stupid.

“Yes, shiny?” Rex asked, pointing to her.

“Sir,” she said, standing at attention, “Is there anything you would like Yang and I to do?” Freeman and Mundy chuckled quietly to themselves as Ludwig muttered something, what Yang couldn't tell.

“Yes, actually,” Rex said, clasping his hands behind him, “Lieutenant Ludwig, Sergeant Mundy, Corporal Freeman, deposit your weapons at the shinie's bunks. You two can clean them. I will give you my weapons as well, and when you're done, I will be inspecting your work.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Weiss said, sitting back down. Yang could hardly believe it. After going over information related to the Avenger's recent scanning location, Rex dismissed them.

“Oh, you're in for it now,” Freeman said, “I haven't cleaned my gun in _years._ ”

“It's a bloody wonder you can even shoot the thing,” Mundy commented.

 

A while later, Weiss and Yang stared at the weapons piled up in front of their bunks.

“Remember, shinies,” Rex reminded them as he placed his dual pistols on top of the weapons, “Clean these weapons and your own. I'm inspecting _all_ of them.”

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

Once Rex had walked away and they began preparing to clean each weapon, Yang muttered, “Good going, Weiss.”

“How was I supposed to know he would have us do that?!”

“Can't you tell by the way he talks to us, Weiss?” Yang asked, removing the bolt from Mundy's rifle, “He doesn't respect us yet. I keep telling you, we have to prove to these people that we deserve their respect.”

“Look, Yang,” Weiss said, her brow furrowed, “Do you think I like this? Because I don't, I hate being treated like I'm seventeen again.”

“For all they care, we _are_ seventeen, Weiss,” Yang said, shaking her head. “I _thought_ that fighting alongside fucking Killip would have put us up a few points in their book, but no, only Ana and Captain Price like us.”

 

“Don't say that, Yang,” Weiss said, disassembling Freeman's MP5, “They-oh, what in the,” she complained, staring at the internals of Freeman's weapon. “What _is_ this?! Sand?”

“Cheeto dust,” Freeman said, passing by, and snacking on the named junk food. “You know,” he continued, dusting off his hands on his suit, “I'm actually thrilled you guys are in my squad now. _I_ used to be the guy everyone made fun of. But now, ha-hey, you guys are the local punching bags! This shit's great!”

“Can you just go away, please?” Yang asked, not taking her eyes off of cleaning Mundy's rifle, “We have actual work to do.”

“See,” Freeman said, tossing the empty bag away, “This is why it's so great to be a corporal like me. I'm above you guys, which means I get to give you guys orders, _and_ I don't have to do any actual work. It's like Black Mesa all over again.”

“If Black Mesa was so great, why didn't you stay there?” Weiss asked, smirking.

“No, wait,” he said, backtracking, “Ah! Trick question! I never said _Black Mesa_ was great, I just said giving people below me orders they have to follow is great!”

“I'm sure you had a real fun time, running around Black Mesa. Where is it, anyway?”

“It's in-wait, why the hell am I even telling you? I don't care what you guys do. Just clean my gun!” Satisfied in his own smugness, Freeman walked away, before heading back and grabbing the empty bag when someone yelled at him to pick up his trash.

 

“Freeman's such an asshole,” Yang said, checking the barrel to see if she had sufficiently cleaned it.

“At least we're not back in Killip's squad,” Weiss said, “Oh God, I'm going to have to soak this thing in oil or something,” she lamented.

“At least Killip respects me,” Yang said.

“Yeah,” Weiss retorted, “he respects _you_. I'm just a nobody.”

“Come on, Weiss, he'd respect you if we were in his squad.” Weiss shook her head, trying desperately to scrub something off of Freeman's weapon.

“I don't want to serve under that nutcase, Yang. He's going to get his entire squad killed.”

“I guess it's just a pipe dream for me to work for someone who actually respects me,” Yang said. Weiss huffed, but didn't say anything in response. They continued their work in silence. It was Weiss's fault they were in this situation anyway. If she hadn't opened her mouth, they wouldn't be cleaning everyone's weapons.

 

After an hour of cleaning, they had finally finished cleaning the squad's weapons. Like he promised, he headed to them and had them stand by for inspection. Carefully, Rex picked up Mundy's rifle, examining it closely.

“Who cleaned this weapon?” he asked, and Yang spoke up, saying she had. “Good job, shiny. Immaculate.”

Next, he examined Freeman's MP5. Weiss held her breath close. She wasn't totally happy with it, and Yang knew.

“Which one of you did this weapon? This is a disaster.” Weiss was about to say she did, but Yang stepped forward.

“I did, sir.” Rex turned, looking at them in confusion.

“You're sure?” he asked, as if _he_ wasn't even sure himself.

“Yes, sir,” Yang said, staring him straight in the eyes. Rex matched her gaze. Whether he bought it or not, Yang couldn't tell.

“Shiny, can you explain to me how you did the Sergeant's rifle flawlessly, but the corporal's weapon isn't clean?”

“In fairness, sir, I did everything I could short of soaking it in oil. Corporal Freeman keeps his weapon extremely uncared for.” Rex nodded, folding his arms after placing the weapon down.

“Shiny, Corporal Freeman might not be the best of soldiers, but you don't succeed as a team by throwing your brothers under the bus.”

“Yes, sir,” Yang said, stepping back. Rex continued to examine the other weapons, and with no other major flaws, Rex gave them a passing inspection rank.

“Alright, shinies,” Rex said, “Grab your weapons. Thanks to your good work, you get to watch everyone else form up at the Skyranger.” Calling for Menace 1-5 to gear up, Yang and Weiss excitedly snatched up their weapons, heading to the Skyranger for a deployment.

 

“Woo!” Yang said as she headed out, “First real deployment! You excited, Weiss?”

“I guess so,” she said, “I'm keeping it subdued. I don't want Captain Rex to think we're _too_ eager for this.”

“Oh, come on, Weiss, we nailed that inspection.” Weiss smiled, and nodded.

“Yeah, we did, huh?”

“By the way, Yang...”

“Yeah?” Weiss looked at her, tilting her head.

“Why'd you cover for me back there? Telling the Captain you cleaned Freeman's gun instead of me?” Yang looked at Weiss blankly, before shrugging and grinning.

“I dunno,” she said, “I didn't want you to get in trouble, is all. You already screwed up by getting us stuck with that, I don't want to give the Captain another reason to give you hell.”

 

Weiss seemed to accept this answer, nodding.

“Besides,” Yang said, “Only person who can do that is _me._ ”

“Alright, squad!” Captain Rex yelled as they formed up near the Skyranger. “We're launching Operation Blade's Edge today. We're heading in to investigate reports from an ADVENT patrol zone. We've gotten reports of a lone vigilante striking out against ADVENT forces in the area. Maybe they're friendly, maybe they're not, we don't know. Keep your heads on a swivel, and look out for each other.”

 

Each nodding in unison, the squad loaded onto the Skyranger, and after strapping in and doing a pre-flight check, it took off for an area called Athens, in a country previously known as Greece.

“Squad, listen up,” Rex said as they neared the target area, “Sergeant Mundy, I want you on overwatch. Find a rooftop to post up in and keep us covered.”

“Got it, mate,” Mundy said, slamming closed the bolt of his rifle.

“Lieutenant, you and I take up the rear. You keep watch right, I'll take left.”

“ _Jawohl,_ ” Ludwig said, nodding sharply.

“Corporal, shinies,” Rex continued, “You take the lead. Corporal, I want you on point as we approach the target area.”

“Dammit, I hate being on point,” Freeman complained. “It always sucks, I'm always first to be shot at.”

“Then get better at dodging, Corporal,” Rex said, placing his helmet over his head. “We land in ten minutes. Everyone understand their role?” A chorus of “yes, sir” followed, confirming it for the captain.

 

The Skyranger slowed down, then hovered, opening the ramp and releasing four ropes for them to slide down to meet ground. Yang, Weiss, Freeman and Mundy were first down, and as Yang and Weiss secured the area, Mundy immediately broke off to find a suitable position to set up at. Not far behind them was Ludwig and Captain Rex, the latter urging them to keep moving forward.

 

“Target area is half a click to the north,” Rex said, gesturing with one of his pistols. “ADVENT's still patrolling, so be careful. We might run into a firefight here.”

“Captain,” Mundy said over the radio, “Got myself set up here.”

“Good job, Sergeant,” Rex said, scanning the rooftops for anything out of the ordinary, “Let us know if you see anyone that might spot us.”

“Will do, sir,” Mundy said, signing off for the moment. Yang, Weiss and Freeman were slowly and methodically moving forward through the confined streets of the city, Yang checking each corner she came across.

“Two in front of you, ten meters,” Mundy reported from his rooftop outpost.

“Just great,” Freeman mumbled.

“Keep calm,” Rex urged, “They don't know we're here. Corporal, shinies, flank left. Lieutenant, on me. Sergeant, do you have sight on them?”

“I do, sir.”

“Good,” Rex said, “Keep it that way.”

Moving swiftly, Yang, Weiss and Freeman moved to the left, circling around a building to flank the troops ahead of them. Neither seemed to have spotted them yet.

“Alright,” Rex said, “On my mark, open fire.” He counted down from three, and on one the squad opened fire, killing both. “Alright, move fast,” Rex ordered, “They heard those shots.”

“Captain,” Mundy reported again, “I don't think they'll be too worried about that.”

“Why do you say that, Sergeant?”

Mundy groaned over the radio, “I'm spotting a big battle up ahead. Looks about a hundred meters out.”

“Resistance?” Rex asked.

“Doesn't look like it. I only spot one that ain't runnin' around in an ADVENT uniform.”

“You're going to have to repeat that, Sergeant,” Rex said, “I could have sword you said-”

“Just one, yeah, I know what I said, Captain.”

“I'm getting real fucking tired of these weird 'one against all' things,” Freeman commented. “If this is another one of your weird friends-”

“Shut up, Freeman,” Yang said, “Let's just get there, huh?”

“Alright, squad,” Rex said, “Double time, let's go!”

 

Instantly, the squad began to sprint, heading towards the battle ahead of them. Yang wondered who this vigilante was. She had heard that before finding her and Weiss, this group had found strange signals and explosions. But they weren't here because of a signal, they were investigating a rumor. Was it someone she knew? What if it was Ruby down there, fighting with all her strength against these aliens?

 

“Approaching target position now,” Rex said, “Lock and load, Menace!” Immediately, the squad joined in on the firefight raging between ADVENT and whoever they were fighting, with Yang and Captain Rex finding themselves fighting side-by-side. Each covered the other almost flawlessly, as if they had been fighting together for years.

 

“Cease fire!” Rex shouted out as the last ADVENT soldier fell, “Cease fire!” Freeman put another burst into an enemy soldier, tossing his empty magazine to load a fresh one in.

“Vhere is ADVENT's enemy?” Ludwig asked, looking around them.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Freeman shouted, aiming his weapon at something, “Hands! Let me see hands! That's how this works, right?” Immediately, Rex and Ludwig also aimed their weapon in the same direction Freeman was. Yang and Weiss did as well.

“I'm sorry,” called a familiar voice. No, Yang thought, it couldn't possibly be…

 

Pyrrha stepped out from behind a half-destroyed pillar, and both Yang and Weiss lowered their weapons.

“Pyrrha?!” Yang shouted, and she looked at them, smiling.

“What the _fuck_?!” Freeman yelled, “You know this one too?!?”

“Shinies,” Rex said, keeping his pistols trained on Pyrrha, “You're going to have to explain this one to me.” As Weiss had the squad lower their weapons, Yang walked towards Pyrrha.

“You...you _died_ , Pyrrha. What happened? Why did you stay in that tower and fight?” Pyrrha began to explain, but couldn't get any words out before Yang punched her in the chest. “Why did you _leave_ us?!” Yang's voice cracked, though she wished it hadn't.

 

“I...” Pyrrha said, “Yes, I did die,” she began, “I thought that if I stayed behind, I could give you all a chance to get to safety. I can only hope it worked.”

“No,” Yang said, brimming with anger, “It _didn't_. Ruby and Weiss went after you, Pyrrha. My dumbass sister risked her life to try and save _you!_ Beacon was falling no mater what you did, Pyrrha.”

“Ruby...” Pyrrha said, like it was a long-away name, “I didn't know, Yang. I'm sorry. So, then I failed. You all died because I made a mistake.” Yang looked at her, pissed beyond comprehension, and just shook her head.

“ _We're_ not dead, Pyrrha. Weiss and I are here for some other reason, what the hell are _you_ doing here?”

“I don't know, truthfully,” Pyrrha said, “I felt myself dying. It was cold, but...peaceful, for a while. I don't know how long it was cold and peaceful until I got here. These Grimm, they tried to take my weapons, tried to communicate. I saw the evil they did. I thought maybe if I had failed at Beacon, this was the universe giving me another opportunity to right my wrongs in life.”

“Ugh,” Yang said, walking away, “You don't know anything. What a joke.” Not even Weiss was able to get Yang to at least stay nearby. Yang walked past the squad, the dead, and ripped off her headset, taking refuge in a corner away from all of them. She didn't want anyone, even Weiss, to come talk to her right now.

 

How dare Pyrrha, she thought. How dare she do something so stupid, so reckless. Didn't she think Ruby would follow her up there? Risk herself to save her? She had to have known, Yang decided, Pyrrha knew and she didn't care. There was no way Pyrrha didn't know Ruby would try to help her, the idiot. _Everyone_ knew Ruby acted first and thought later.

 

At least, she _thought_ everyone did. Yang heard them interrogating Pyrrha. Good. Maybe then Pyrrha would realize how fucking stupid she was, standing and dying on top of that damned tower. God, Yang just hated everything. She thought this would get her closer to getting back home, but it was just another in an endless parade of bad memories.

 

Yang wasn't sure how long she had spent there, fuming, before Alan came up to her. “Go away,” she said, burying her face in her hands.

“Gonna have to try harder than that, kid,” he said, lighting a cigarette and sitting down opposite from her.

“No, really,” she said, “Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone.” Alan shrugged, putting his lighter away.

“Then don't talk, I don't care.” Taking a drag off the cigarette and blowing smoke away, he continued, “You sounded pretty angry down there.”

“I _said_ I don't want to talk.”

“I heard you the first time, and I told you I don't care if you talk.” Exhaling more smoke, he tapped off ashes from the cigarette onto the ground. “I used to know this dumbass, he and I were squadmates from way back. Idiot signed up to join the Army first chance he got, didn't even wait for Nasho.”

 

“Anyway, he rolled into our tiny little Outback town in his fancy dress uniform, fuckin' faceplanted right into a huge mud pit ten minutes after he got off his ride. That should tell ya everything ya need to know about his _exemplary_ military service.”

“What happened to him?” Yang asked, unsure whether she wanted the answer.

“Well, long story short, he and I were doing what we are now, fightin' aliens. Difference was, we were the ones fighting as conventionals, not doing a guerrilla war like we are now. Now, dumbass reckons he has a leg up on the aliens, thinks he's smarter than them.”

 

“So, one day the aliens pop up in Sydney. Sent in a full shock trooper kind of deal. My unit, squad with dumbass in it, we're told to hold the evac bridge at all costs.” Alan took a much longer drag off the cigarette. “When the last civvie got over the bridge, he told us to go with them. Said he had rigged up some bombs to blow the bridge so the aliens couldn't follow us, just needed to set them.”

 

“Well, wouldn't you fuckin' know it, I somehow had made friends with this idiot when I was serving with him, so I'm standing there as everyone else is getting the hell out of dodge, trying to get him to come with us, and he keeps telling me to go, he's got it covered. So, I run with the rest of them.”

“And him?”

“Like a lot of things he did, he fucked up his bomb job. We figured he meant to set the timer to five minutes, must have set it to fifty seconds or something. We heard him fighting on our radio, said he was about to pull out, then the whole bridge goes, him still on it.”

“Why the hell did you tell me that?” Yang asked, ready to punch him in the gut right then and there.

“People do dumb things when they think they're helping their friends and family. I don't know what the hell you two were on about, but your sister, this nutter? They thought they were helping _you_ , and each other. Don't get pissy at people because they think they're doing the right thing.”

“Your idiot friend knowingly sacrificed himself,” Yang said, “Pyrrha was being selfish. She _knew_ Ruby would go after her.”

“One, no he didn't, and two, you sure about that?” Alan challenged, raising an eyebrow. “Dumbass wouldn't have blown the bridge early because he was being dramatic or whatever. He blew the bridge early because he was an idiot. Your friend...Pyrite, or whatever, she didn't die on that tower or whatever because she wanted to take your sister with her.”

“You weren't there,” Yang countered.

“And you weren't in Sydney on that bridge,” he shot back, “So don't be a knocker, makes everyone look bad.” Yang continued to fume, folding her arms. “Like I said, kid,” Alan continued, “People are dumb when they think they're doing the right thing.”

“I guess I can accept that,” Yang said.

“Fine by me,” Alan said, finishing his cigarette. “I'm gonna go tell the Captain I gave ya a real gobful. Gotta keep up my reputation of being a hardass.”

 

Dammit. Alan was right, but she wasn't about to admit it. Neither was Yang about to forgive Pyrrha. To Yang, Pyrrha was still acting selfishly, irresponsibly so, and she couldn't forgive her for that. Ruby almost died because of what Pyrrha did, why should Yang forgive her now? There wasn't a reason to.

 

“Hey, shiny,” Captain Rex stand, standing over her with his pistols holstered, “Get on your feet, we're heading for our ride out of here.” Yang sighed, standing up.

“Yes, sir,” she said. _Angry sit in the corner_ time must have been over.

“One more thing, shiny,” Rex said, leaning in so only they could hear, “You and I are having a little discussion when we get back to the Avenger.”

Yang gulped. Were these words out of malice or had she done something right? Was it about Pyrrha? She didn't have any way to know, but the long walk back to the Skyranger and the eventual trip itself back to the Avenger would give her plenty of time to speculate.

 

Yang and Captain Rex rejoined the squad, with Rex and Ludwig taking the lead in their path to the evac. Weiss and Yang hung back, as Pyrrha was closely monitored by Alan and Freeman, the former keeping his pistol held tight to the small of her back.

“Yang,” Weiss said, trying to engage with her, “What was that? Where'd you go?”

“I don't really want to talk about it, Weiss,” Yang said, slinging Valkyrie on her back. Weiss huffed, and out of the corner of her eyes Yang could see her frowning.

“Yang, you don't get to blow up on someone like that and then pretend it didn't happen,” she lectured, “I get you're mad at Pyrrha, but she didn't do anything wrong.”

“Weiss,” Yang said, “I said I don't want to talk about it. Just...lay off, alright?” She heard Weiss sigh again, frustrated judging by how short this one was. Weiss stepped up her pace, leaving Yang behind. Great, now even Weiss was mad at her. What else could go wrong today?

 

Stepping onto the Skyranger, Yang stood off nearer to the pilots, clinging to a hanging loop of some kind to keep herself steady as they prepared to take off. Pyrrha by now had been securely strapped in to one of the seats, and disarmed just in case.

 

“Yang,” she said to her, turning to try to face her and get Yang's attention, “You can tell them I'm not dangerous, I don't need these restraints on me.” Yang didn't even bother to look at her, instead staring out the window, hoping something interesting would be passing by. Pyrrha's straps and handcuffs clattered together, followed by a solid _thwump_. That was probably Freeman forcing her to sit back.

“Yang,” Pyrrha pleaded, “Please. What did I do wrong?”

“Oi,” Alan said, “Stop yabberin'. I don't wanna hear another word outta yer mouth, Sheila.”

 

Pyrrha started to protest, but thought better of it in case he had a threat to deliver on. Yang sighed, feeling the eyes of her entire squad on her. This entire day was just fucked, and she couldn't help but feel she brought it upon herself.


	6. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha's return causes Yang to withdraw in anger. Captain Rex disciplines the insubordination and outlandish reaction to the scenario.

Yang was first off the Skyranger as it landed on the Avenger, barely conscious of the other soldiers who were heading to help secure Pyrrha, no doubt for interrogation and evaluation. In a daze, she headed to her bunk, tossing Valkyrie onto her bed in preparation to clean it.

 

“Private Xiao Long,” Captain Rex said, appearing behind her, “Secure your weapon and come with me.” Yang sighed, taking the magazine out of Valkyrie and unloading the chambered round.

“Respectfully, sir,” she said, “Can it wait?”

“No,” he replied, “I insist, Private Xiao Long.” She had just noticed he was now actually using her name, no longer calling her “shiny”. What...what was his ploy here? This was weird. Resigning herself to what was probably going to be another verbal beatdown, Yang placed Valkyrie in her footlocker, locking it securely.

 

She then followed Captain Rex, heading to the bar. Why was he taking her there? It was unusually empty this time of day, especially after a mission.

“Sir,” she asked, “What's going on?” Gesturing for her to take a seat at a table, he sat opposite of her.

“Private Xiao Long,” he began, “I thought that I put you on notice when I first saw you on this ship.”

“You did, sir,” she said, avoiding his eyes.

“Look at me when I talk to you,” he ordered, circumventing her plan. “I'm disappointed, Private Xiao Long,” he said, “But, I'm also somewhat impressed, because you're not a shiny anymore.”

“I'm….not?”

“No. I know you watched my back during that fighting. What you did on that battlefield was nothing short of exemplary. For that, you've proven yourself to me, you and Private Schnee both.”

“Thank you, sir,” Yang said, allowing herself to smile a little. She didn't often get praise from many officers other than Ana. Even Price's praise was limited and fleeting, usually followed by some harsh criticism.

“I do have other concerns, Private Xiao Long. This new arrival, Nikos, you have history with her?”

“I do, sir,” Yang admitted.

“Alright, Private. Explain it to me. Why did you feel fit to chew her out and then run off?” Yang sighed. She really didn't want to go over the events of Beacon's fall again, but now she had to.

 

“She thought that trying to stop whoever it was that ruined our lives would help us, that we'd be able to get out safe. Our team got split up because of _her_ ,” Yang said, “My sister and Weiss ran off to help her. I was with my friend Blake, and she went off to do God-knows what, and when I found her, she was about to be killed.”

 

“I lost my arm trying to save my friend, and Pyrrha died on that damned tower. Ruby almost died with her. I spent hours wondering if my sister was OK. All I knew was that the tower blew up, my sister was up there, my arm was gone, and everything I knew was falling apart.”

“Stop me if I have this wrong,” Rex said, “You blame Nikos for all the problems you've had since losing your arm.”

“No,” Yang said, “She _caused_ them. Ruby wouldn't have risked herself if Pyrrha wasn't up there fighting. Blake and I wouldn't have been fighting the White Fang if we weren't looking for Weiss and Ruby.”

“Private,” Rex said, leaning forward on the table and resting his arms on it, “From what I understand, you ladies were fighting a war back in your world. This Nikos did what she thought was ending that war.” Yang's brow furrowed.

“She didn't know that,” Yang said, “We didn't know it was a war when it happened.”

“I don't believe that,” Rex said, “All soldiers know when a war starts. You might not have known it consciously, but inside, I think you did. I think Miss Nikos did too.”

“So that makes it okay for her to risk her own life and my sister's, my friend's?”

“I didn't say that,” Rex said, “What Miss Nikos did was reckless, yes. However,” he continued, “You can't form a team if you distrust one another, or keep anger in your hearts. Conflict belongs on the battlefield, not in the squad. Teams, squads, companies, all need to keep each other in check and in mind.”

 

“If this is another crap speech about 'not judging others' like Alan gave me,” Yang said, standing up and pushing her chair back, ready to walk away, “I'm out of here. I'm not forgiving her for what she did, and nobody can tell me I have to.”

 

“Private, I don't know what Sergeant Mundy said to you,” Rex said, switching from the kinder tone he had been using to his usual authoritative one, “So sit back down. You're not dismissed yet.” The two stared each other down, equally unwilling to yield. Finally, Yang sighed again, sitting in the chair with her arms crossed, doing everything she could to signal she was pissed.

 

“Nobody's asking you to forgive her, Private,” Rex continued, “I'm _telling_ you that you can't treat her like she doesn't exist. You're all going to be living on the same ship for a while, and if somebody in our squad gets wounded, she's likely to be their replacement if she passes training. I'm not about to sit here and let you allow your feelings to get in the way of a mission.”

“Sir, I-”

“Stop talking,” Rex ordered, “Either you find a way to work with Miss Nikos if she begins training, or I make sure that you're not going to be a detriment on any missions she's on. That's your choice, soldier. I'd make it soon.” Having made his point, Rex stood and left, leaving Yang along in an empty bar.

 

Yang sat in the chair for a while, processing what she had heard. Damn it. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit. Out of frustration, Yang threw the table on it's side, sending it crashing across the room and taking a few other tables and chairs with it. Somehow, knowing she had both impressed and disappointed Captain Rex just made her feel even worse.

 

A great way to cap off what had so far been a terrible day.

 

 

“Pyrrha Nikos,” Captain Price said, standing over her with a clipboard in his hand, reading something off of it. “I heard you and Xiao Long had a bit of a spat in Athens.”

“Is that where I was?” Pyrrha asked, keeping her hands folded over one another in her lap, “Yes, we did exchange words. How is Yang doing?”

“I know I'm not going near her, that's for sure,” Price said, dragging a chair over and sitting on it. He flipped through the pages on the clipboard, and from what little Pyrrha could see, they looked like charts of some kind, with words scrawled all across them in red ink.

“May I ask why you came to see me, Captain?”

Price nodded, not taking his eyes off the clipboard. “Schnee talked about you. Told me you were one hell of a fighter. You've been fighting ADVENT on your own for months, according to the Greeks.” He looked her up and down, almost skeptical that she had really done so. “Want to let me know how you managed to do that without a rifle?”

“I usually do,” she explained, “Miló I could change into a rifle configuration, but it doesn't work here.”

“Right,” Price said, “Dust doesn't work here. No, we don't know why. Keep going.” Pyrrha tilted her head, about to ask but deciding against it.

“I just did what came naturally, I suppose. People needed my help. Even if I couldn't understand them, I understood their situation. I have to fight oppression wherever I find it.”

 

Price nodded. “Rather noble goal,” he commented, “So you've met ADVENT head-on, then. Want to get in on the real action?”

“I don't believe I understand,” she said, blinking.

Price explained, “We can teach you to be a modern fighter, and with your help, you can help us defeat ADVENT and get them off Earth.”

“You would have me in your fight?” Pyrrha asked, unsure whether she could believe it. “How can I be sure I can trust you?”

“You can't, really,” Price said, lighting a cigar, “We're not perfect, that's for sure, but we're a hell of a lot better than the aliens. They're only using this planet for resources.”

 

“What do you mean?” Pyrrha asked, “How long have they been here?”

“Ten years,” Price said, in between puffs of his cigar, “They're draining our waters, mining everything in sight. The actual people aren't worth a damn thing to them.” Pyrrha was confused.

“How can they do that?” she asked, “Why aren't the people fighting?”

“Oh, they are,” Price said, “But without organization, leaders, it's not worth anything. ADVENT crushes them in days, if they're lucky to last that long.”

“And you provide that leadership, a beacon for them to follow,” Pyrrha connected, putting together the dots. Price nodded once, knocking ashes off his cigar.

“Alright,” Pyrrha said after some time, “I'll join you.”

“Good,” Price said, “We'll get you sorted tomorrow. Captain Rex wanted to see you before anything else happened.” Pyrrha tilted her head to the side, not recognizing the name.

“Who is Captain Rex?”

 

Price looked almost surprised, informing her, “Captain Rex and his squad recovered you today. He's over there, at his bunk.” Price pointed towards Captain Rex, and then the pieces began to fall into place for her. Yang, Weiss, they were both in his squad. Was he asking to see her because he wanted her in his team?

 

Heading over to the captain's bunk, she noticed Yang wasn't anywhere to be found. Weiss was seated below the captain, cleaning something by the looks of it.

“Captain Rex,” Pyrrha said as she approached, bowing slightly, “I was told you wished to speak to me.” Rex took a look at her, and got off his bunk.

“Yes, I did,” he said, “Come with me.”

Captain Rex led Pyrrha to a room, that looked like a tornado had hit it. Yang stood in the middle of the destruction, not moving an inch.

“Private Xiao Long,” Rex said as he entered, “You will have to fix this when we're done here. But, I'll ignore it for now.”

“Thank you, sir,” Yang said, still unmoving from her spot. Rex grabbed a chair for Pyrrha, setting it in front of Yang. Rex gestured for Pyrrha to sit in the chair, sliding one to just behind Yang as he did so.

 

“Private Xiao Long,” Rex said, “Have a seat, please.” Almost like a machine, Yang sat down, staring at the floor. “Alright, you two,” Rex continued, “I thought about your little predicament more. Private Xiao Long, while my previous words still stand, you and Miss Nikos need to recognize you're being stupid.”

 

“Miss Nikos,” he said, “If you were one of my soldiers and you tried the same stunt you pulled at Beacon, I would have you court-martialed even if I had to try just your weapon.” Pyrrha wondered where this was coming from.

“Captain, I-” she began, seeing Yang shake her head.

“Don't interrupt me, Miss Nikos. I'll overlook it for now, but don't do it again.” Rex continued, “Your actions were irresponsible and dangerous. You put not just your own life at stake, you risked the lives of others. That will not be tolerated here. We don't need heroes, we need people to carry weapons to bring down the aliens.”

 

“Private Xiao Long,” he said, turning to Yang, “Your anger was once justified. It is not any longer. Nobody here can turn back the clock on what happened that day, but you have to recognize that you cannot pin all the blame on Miss Nikos for those events. It's unfair to her, it's unfair to you, and it's unfair to everyone you fought with that day.”

 

“Now,” he said, stepped between the two, “I expect there'll be no more problems with you two. If I hear of it, I won't be so kind next time.” Having made his points, Captain Rex began walking out the door, ordering Yang to restore the room to its natural order. Silently, Yang got up to begin putting tables and chairs back upright, burning holes in the ground.

 

“Do you want me to help?” Pyrrha asked, hoping that she could get her friend back, if only for a moment. Yang stopped, setting a chair down.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, “Thanks.” Following Yang's lead, Pyrrha began setting tables up and sweeping up a few pieces of broken glass. “He's right, you know,” Yang said to her after half an hour of silence.

“I wish I could have seen what my actions were going to do,” Pyrrha said, “Maybe I wouldn't have died up on that tower.”

“Yeah,” Yang said, “Maybe. I just want to be back home.” Pyrrha sighed, setting the broom away so she could get the broken glass off the floor and into a trashcan.

“Yang, if I could go back to that day, I would.”

“Didn't you hear the Captain?” Yang asked, “Nobody here can turn back the clock.”

“I know,” Pyrrha said, “How can I make this up to you, Yang?” Yang slammed down a chair, before turning to hear and looking her in the eyes, the first time she had done so since they reunited in Athens.

“Let's just not talk about it, alright? Can we do that?”

“Of course,” Pyrrha said, “I won't mention it again.” Yang closed her eyes tightly, breathed deeply in, and smiled.

“Thanks, Pyrrha.” Looking around them, Yang and Pyrrha noticed their job was now done, having restored the bar to its former glory, if missing a few glasses.

 

Yang decided it was a good time for a nap, and thus left to head for her bunk. Pyrrha found out later that Captain Rex had arranged for Pyrrha's bunk to be opposite of his, possibly to keep an eye on her and Yang. Hopefully, they wouldn't have a problem again. Even if Pyrrha felt horrible about risking Ruby's life.


	7. Firestorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The squad is sent out to destroy an alien facility, but the facility holds more secrets than it appears...

Pyrrha's training concluded with her in the middle between Yang and Weiss in terms of killhouse speed, but where Pyrrha excelled was in long-distance shooting, so much so that Captains Price and Amari recommended her for marksmanship training. Pyrrha's preferred weapon became what Price called a “relic” in the SVD Dragunov, which she was fine with. It worked for her, and it was one of the simpler ones to operate. Alan Mundy, previously indifferent to anyone other than himself, took a special interest in Pyrrha's training when he saw her weapon, often drilling her relentlessly on every aspect of her rifle from shooting to maintenance.

 

Now armed with her new rifle, nicknamed Themis, Pyrrha was officially placed on reserve duty, not formally assigned to any squad, but would substitute for other soldiers when they became wounded or ill. While occasionally she was able to head on missions with Weiss and Yang, it was slow work. Still, she took it in stride. Every battle she fought, Pyrrha reasoned, helped these people reclaim their world, and that mattered most of all.

 

A month later, the crew of the Avenger, alongside all soldiers, were ordered to gather in the bay for what Central Officer Bradford referred to as an “important announcement”. Unfortunately, it had begun raining while they were assembled outside, which didn't seem to impact some of the older soldiers.

 

“At ease, everyone,” Bradford said as he stepped to the center of the assembly. In his hands, he held a strange vial of something. “This was recovered at the alien blacksite by Killip's squad,” he began, holding the vial for all to see. “Dr. Tygan and Chief Engineer Shen have been examining this for the past week. We have found something incredibly disturbing. Dr. Tygan, if you would.”

 

Taking center stage now was Dr. Tygan, clearly uncomfortable with not just standing in the rain but also being the center of attention. “In our tests and examinations of this vial,” he said, “we discovered the missing civilians we had been searching for earlier this year.” Instantly, people began whispering to each other, everyone speculating on what this meant. Orders from officers silenced all talk.

 

“ADVENT has been screening select individuals through their Gene Therapy Clinics,” Tygan explained, “and sending them to the blacksite. I believe Mr. Killip and his squad can attest to the disturbing nature of that facility. Regardless, the missing civilians have been found. Miss Shen, if you would for this next part.”

 

Shen stepped forward, holding an experimental gauntlet of sorts. “This is the Skulljack,” she said, “each squad will be given one of these for field use as soon as possible. All squads will have standing orders, no matter what their mission is, to use this Skulljack on an ADVENT officer. We can use it to hijack the alien psionic network and gain entry.”

 

“This order supersedes any other order you may be given in the field,” Bradford further added, “squad leaders, disciplinary action will be taken if your squad is granted an opportunity to use this in the field and doesn't take it. That's all,” Bradford finished. “Dismissed.”

 

Pyrrha stepped back into the protection of the Avenger, heading for her bunk. Weiss and Yang were close behind, following her closely.

“So,” Yang said, “are we just not going to talk about how fucked up that was?”

“It's a massacre,” Weiss said, sadness in her voice. “Who knows how many people went through that place.” Pyrrha too felt the pain of the others, almost ready to break into tears at the news.

“We have to help them,” she said, frowning. “They didn't deserve that fate. Nobody does.”

“What can we do, though?” Yang asked.

 

That was the all-important question, wasn't it? What _could_ they do? None of them had the authority to make any decisions on their own. It was heavily impressed upon all of them that the resistance would help them as long as they helped the resistance. Trying to strike out against the aliens alone was suicidal at best.

 

“I don't know if there's anything we can do,” Pyrrha said after a while, “we just have to trust that our leaders will point us in the right direction.” Yang sighed angrily, looking ready to punch something.

“These people are dying because we don't know what these aliens are planning,” she said, clearly angry beyond belief. “What good are we if we can't stop them before they wipe out half the world?”

“But, they're not killing people indiscriminately,” Weiss pointed out, “Dr. Tygan said they were screening people. What's special about them?”

“Does that really matter, Weiss?” Yang asked, outstretching her arms. “They're slaughtering these people. That's all I care about.”

“If they are trying to find specific people,” Pyrrha speculated. “Then what are they going to do with the people who don't fit their qualifications?”

“I don't think I want to know,” Weiss said solemnly.

“Me neither,” Yang added. Unable to find a real answer to their questions, Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha eventually went their own ways, letting the news of the alien blacksite's mission stew in their minds.

 

Days passed after the announcement, and Pyrrha watched squads go in and out. Most of them made it home safely, though occasionally there was a wounded soldier heading back, after which Pyrrha temporarily joined them to fill in the slot. After a week, however, Pyrrha got a new opportunity.

 

Captain Rex had requested that Pyrrha accompany his squad on their next mission. Even if it were up to her, which it wasn't, Pyrrha would have taken the opportunity immediately. Thankfully, Central Officer Bradford saw the same way she did (or maybe wanted her to gain more field experience) and allowed Captain Rex to run a squad with seven soldiers instead of the usual six.

 

“Alright, squad,” Captain Rex said in his pre-mission briefing, “our mission tonight is to assault and destroy an alien manufacturing facility. Command states this is related to the alien's Avatar project.”

 

Pulling down a projector which outlined the expected area of operations, Rex continued, “Our insertion point is here, just beyond a dried riverbed. Sergeant Mundy, Private Nikos, you two will provide overwatch and cover our backs from this building here.” He pointed to a square building, the shape of which Pyrrha was unable to tell from the aerial photo.

 

“Corporal Freeman, Privates Schnee and Xiao Long,” he said, “you three will form our main attacking force. You'll penetrate past the alien defenses while the rest of us keep them engaged at a distance. Corporal, you've been entrusted with the explosives.”

“Woah, are you sure that's a good idea?” Freeman asked. “I don't know if I want to be carrying the tactical death ball around here.”

“Then give it to either Schnee or Xiao Long, Corporal,” Rex answered. “I'm sure one of them will be happy to carry it for you if you think it's too heavy.”

“Lieutenant Ludwig,” he continued, ignoring Freeman's grumbling, “you and I will provide close covering fire for the main assault force, but you especially will be making sure any wounds are immediately patched up, within reason of course.”

“Ach,” Ludwig said, “ze healing is not as revarding as ze hurting, but I vill make sure zat all of you are in exzellent health.”

“Don't worry, Doc,” Rex said, “we'll have plenty to shoot at. Command has also advised heavy enemy defenses in this area. We could be looking at up to a full platoon of enemy soldiers, plus any reinforcements they call in.”

“What's our timeline looking like here?” Alan asked, studying the photo intensely and taking notes.

“Assuming we move quick and strike harder, no more than thirty minutes in and out.”

Alan nodded, commenting, “With myself and the ankle biter, we should be able to knock off any high profile targets for you lot.”

“That's exactly what I'm counting on, sergeant,” Rex concluded, retracting the projector. “Alright, squad. Dismissed. Get your gear and be prepared to take off in five.”

 

Pyrrha headed to her bunk, strapping on a chest rig to hold extra magazines for her rifle. She meticulously cleaned Themis each morning and again after returning from the range or a mission, and so did not see it necessary to clean it. However, she did take the time to check the scope's settings, ensuring they hadn't been knocked around by an errant drop. Satisfied, Pyrrha put the protective caps back on the scope.

 

“You really think we can nail this in 30 minutes flat?” Yang asked, checking magazines to make sure they were loaded. Pyrrha shrugged.

“If we all do our part,” she said, “then we should have nothing to fear.” Yang seemed to accept this answer, though Pyrrha wasn't sure Yang really believed it.

“Come on!” Weiss said, hastily zipping her jacket up. “Our five minutes are almost up!”

Slinging Themis over her shoulder, Pyrrha joined Weiss and Yang in heading towards the Skyranger, where the other soldiers in the squad had already assembled. Once they had arrived, the squad as a whole piled into the Skyranger, strapping in and hanging on for the flight out.

 

Pyrrha had heard this place referred to as Vietnam, a place she only knew because Yang had told her a story about a soldier from here who had since passed. Yang had even brought her to the memorial wall in the bar, relaying stories she had heard from the others. Pyrrha wondered why they celebrated the death of those who were doing their jobs. Pyrrha had heard that Ruby was inspired by her death to continue on a seemingly endless quest, but was she really worth that? Pyrrha considered her sacrifice at Beacon to be a failure. Why did Ruby believe that to be a cause to rally behind? It didn't make sense to her.

 

The bitter smell of hydraulic fluid filled the Skyranger's compartment as it took off, offending Pyrrha's senses. Had it been hit by enemy fire trying to escape? She didn't remember this smell on her last mission. “Hey, Pyrrha,” Yang asked as the Skyranger delivered them to their mission, “You were out with Killip's squad last week, right?”

“I was,” she replied warily.

“What'd you think of it?”

Pyrrha took a moment to reflect on that mission. One of his regular soldiers had been wounded, and he had specifically requested a sniper, therefore Pyrrha was the first in line as a temporary replacement. Their mission was to secure a hostile VIP, but the aliens had focused heavy weapons fire at the vehicle the VIP was in, killing them. Pyrrha wasn't sure whether the aliens did so because they felt losing the VIP was a nonfactor or if they were just that desperate to try and take out resistance operatives, but either way it led to them withdrawing, and Killip blaming the entire ordeal on Pyrrha.

“Well,” she said. “He certainly has an _interesting_ way of leading his squad.”

“You can say that again,” Weiss said. “He's going to get them killed.”

“Hey,” Captain Rex said, interrupting them. “First off, he's First Sergeant Killip to you. Secondly, I don't think I like where this conversation is going. Cut the chatter and get your heads straight. We're close to the landing zone.”

 

This admonishment killed whatever conversations had been ongoing between people in the craft, and several minutes later it hovered over a thick jungle, dropping ropes for the squad to rappel down from. Unfortunately, because the ADVENT facility contained advanced scanning equipment, they were unable to get the squad any closer. From here, they would have to go on foot.

 

Freeman, Weiss and Captain Rex made up the advance element, with Ludwig and Mundy in the middle and Yang and Pyrrha taking up the rear. Yang soon decided to revisit their conversation cut short on the Skyranger.

“Come on, Pyrrha,” she urged. “What was fighting with him like?”

“With who?” Pyrrha asked, checking every angle she could think of in case a roaming ADVENT patrol happened upon them.

“First Sergeant Killip,” Yang said, irritated.

“Oh,” Pyrrha uttered. “Can Captain Rex hear us?” Yang shook her head no, taking aim at a particularly threatening bush for a few seconds.

“First Sergeant Killip is a strange man,” Pyrrha said, keeping her voice low. “I can't find myself having confidence in his abilities.”

“What do you mean?” Yang questioned warily, looking at her with an almost scared look.

“I think he has a death wish, Yang. I'm sorry. I know how you respect him, but he doesn't accept anything other than his own solutions.”

 

“Everyone's like that around here,” Yang countered. “Come on.”

“Not like him,” Pyrrha said. “He doesn't listen to anyone but Central Officer Bradford, and even then only when he has to.” Yang shook her head, clearly mad again. Pyrrha couldn't even fathom why Yang had such an affinity for the First Sergeant, but surely he must had said or done something to earn it.

“Approaching target,” Captain Rex informed the squad. “Sergeant, Private Nikos, you know what to do.”

“Yes, sir,” Alan said, looking behind him to make sure Pyrrha had heard the captain. Gesturing for her to follow him, she and Alan broke off to the right, heading for the small building they had planned on sniping from.

 

The roof of the square building hosted a flat gravel roof, crunching with every step they took. Pyrrha thanked Captain Amari for recommending she swap out her skirt and shorts combo for a pair of actual combat pants, feeling the rough texture scrape on her skin even through the thick material.

“Alright, ankle biter,” Alan said, adjusting his scope, “you got the low power scope, so you're playing spotter for me.”

“I can check ranges for you, too,” she pointed out, to which Alan waved his hand dismissively.

“Don't bother,” he said, “our rifles use different ammo. I got the ranges I need all up here.” He tapped his head for emphasis, opening the bolt of his rifle to check and make sure a round was loaded.

“In position, Captain,” Alan reported, peering down his scope. Pyrrha did the same, immediately spotting three soldiers in the distance.

“You see them?” Alan asked, practically whispering even when he didn't need to.

“The three at the bridge, yes,” she responded. “When do I open fire?”

“When I bloody well tell you to,” he said harshly. “Check the right for me. What do you see there?” Pyrrha swiveled her scope to the right of the facility, spotting nothing, which she reported back.

 

Slowly, the teams reported they were in position and ready. All they needed now was an opening to move. Alan and Pyrrha continued to keep watch on the soldiers at the bridge, until Alan muttered something, scrambling to turn his radio on.

“Captain, hold on,” he said just before Captain Rex was about to order the attack to begin.

“What is it, Sergeant?” Rex asked, curious.

“ADVENT officer incoming, left side, from the checkpoint.” Pyrrha swung her view over to the checkpoint, spotting an officer flanked by two soldiers with strange batons on their backs.

“Shit,” Freeman said, “he's covered by two goddamn stun lancers, what a joke.”

“What's the play, Captain?” Alan asked.

“Lieutenant,” Rex asked over open comms, “what's your view? We might not get the chance to use this Skulljack we have.”

“Mmm,” Ludwig responded, “Vell, ze risks are inherent. If our _Scharfschützen_ can eliminate ze lancers, zen ve have a shot. Of course, you would be risking yourself, _Herr Hauptmann_...”

“That's a chance I can take. Squad, be ready to fire on my order.”

Alan shifted his scope to the left slightly, ordering Pyrrha, “You take the one on the right. I'll take the lad on the left.”

“Alright,” Pyrrha said, checking her distance quickly and adjusting to compensate. Out of the corner of her scope, she saw Captain Rex begin to sneak up, closing the distance with Freeman, Weiss and Yang.

 

“Steady,” Rex said, inching ever closer to the opposite end of the riverbed. He paused for a moment, no doubt trying to see if the groups would move before he made his. “Open fire!” Rex screamed as he charged towards the opposition. Instantly, Pyrrha and Alan squeezed the triggers of their rifles, and both stun lancers fell in short order. Pyrrha saw the soldiers at the bridge fall as well, no doubt victims of Yang, Weiss and Freeman's weapons.

 

“Baseplate,” Rex said, knocking the officer's hands away and implanting the Skulljack in his head, “I'm activating the Skulljack now! Do what you need to!” Tygan and Shen immediately began instructing him about what they were doing, while Central Officer Bradford condemned him for changing the plan so quickly and not telling them a little sooner.

 

As alarms in the facility blared, Rex finally ejected the Skulljack out of the officer, and a strange ball of energy formed not even ten meters away from Rex. After a few seconds of growing in intensity, it exploded in a brilliant light, revealing...something not from this world.

 

“WHAT THE FUCK,” Freeman shouted, “YOU WEREN'T THERE AND NOW YOU'RE _REAL!_ ”

“That must be the Codex responsible for safeguarding the alien psionic network!” Tygan said, tapping into the squad's comms system. “Clearly responding to our intrusion, no doubt.”

“Menace 1-5,” Bradford said, “you have your target. Eliminate that Codex by all means available.”

“Sergeant, Private,” Rex yelled, heading for cover and pulling out his other pistol, “take that thing down! Long, Schnee, cover Freeman and get into that facility!” Pyrrha readjusted her rifle, taking aim and firing at the Codex, watching it seemingly dissipate in and out of reality itself. It _looked_ like her shot hit, but when she looked to check her fire, it was gone.

 

“On ze left!” Ludwig yelled, as Alan let out a quiet and confused “ _What in the fuck?”._

“Fascinating,” Tygan said, “the Codex is projecting itself across multiple dimensions, and can seemingly teleport at will!”

“Keep firing at it!” Rex ordered, trying to nail it with his pistols as it dodged around them, “I want this thing _dead!_ ”

 

Pyrrha got up from her prone position, finding it unwieldy for shooting this highly mobile target, instead opting for a crouching supported position. She tracked the Codex as it appeared and disappeared across her field of vision, before it stopped, bringing its hands out. She had her chance now, and quickly squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet directly to its head.

 

The interruption seemed to have stopped it from conducting whatever attack it might have been in the process of, and it let out an unnatural mechanical scream. Pyrrha exhaled, having held her breath for those tense moments.

 

And then a second Codex appeared.

 

“The Codex appears to be making autonomous copies of itself,” Tygan observed, barely containing his excitement for what was quickly becoming a terrifying foe.

“KILL ZE CODEX!” Ludwig screamed as he emptied another magazine of his rifle into it.

“Hey, I really don't want to interrupt the party,” Freeman said as gunfire came in through his radio, “but we went ahead and got the charges planted!”

“Great job, Corporal,” Rex said, taking cover and reloading, “now get out here and help us fight this thing!”

“Yeah, about that-”

“ _Corporal!_ ” More gunfire raged from both within and outside the facility as the respective teams fought their enemies. Pyrrha kept shooting rounds at the Codex, knocking down weaker and weaker copies of itself until she wasn't sure which was the original anymore.

 

Eventually, Freeman, Weiss and Yang made it out of the facility, with aliens hot on their heels.

“Nikos!” Alan said, loading a fresh magazine into his rifle, “keep those blubberin' idiots covered! I can get this Codex thing!” Pyrrha shifted her aim to the facility, watching an alien hold its aim over Weiss. She had a perfect shot of it, too, just one trigger squeeze and…

 

_Click._

 

Pyrrha had run out of ammo at the exact wrong time. Scrambling to load a new magazine, Pyrrha almost forgot to rack the bolt before taking the scope up to her eyes, wasting valuable time. By the time she had, she had another perfect view, but this time of Weiss being hit by an alien's burst. She heard Weiss instinctively cry out in pain, and watched the rounds tear through her jacket, and blood seep through her side.

 

“Weiss!” she yelled out, immediately firing a shot at the offending alien, killing him instantly through a well-placed headshot.

“Schnee's been hit!” Rex said, “Lieutenant!”

“Ach, _was ist los_?” Ludwig asked, before glancing over at Weiss. Pyrrha and Alan continued to shoot at targets, with Freeman occasionally participating as well, as Yang held Weiss close to try and make sure she wouldn't get shot by anyone else.

“Sergeant, Private,” Rex said, “get off that roof and rejoin us! We're out of here!” A series of lights was set upon the ground in a square, indicating the Skyranger was on its way to pick them up. Pyrrha didn't need any further encouragement, already rushing to make sure Weiss was alright. She approached her with Yang looking up at her despondently.

 

“Hold schtill,” Ludwig said, “zis vill only shting for a moment.” Ludwig injected some form of serum into Weiss, and she screamed in pain again. Despite her squirming, it looked like the injection had the intended effect, even if Weiss's jacket had been torn up by the rounds and bloodstained.

“Weiss,” Yang said as the wounded woman's eyes began to close, “tell me you'll be okay. Weiss, please, just say-dammit! What the fuck did you put into her?!” Yang asked, staring at Ludwig with tears already forming in her eyes. Pyrrha dropped her rifle to the ground, collapsing on her knees, trying to find logic in what she just saw.

“Do not vorry,” Ludwig said, “it vas just a sedative _und_ pain reliever. She vill have to go to ze medical bay vhen ve return to ze Avenger.”

“Fucking sedative?!” Yang yelled, “how do you know she's not dead? Look at her! She's covered in blood!”

“Mhm, zat she is,” Ludwig said as Rex and Alan lowered a stretcher from the Skyranger. “Eizer vay, she is fine, of zat I assure you. Vell, for ze moment at least.” Ludwig took the stretcher and had Yang and Pyrrha help him secure Weiss to it, before heading up into the Skyranger itself.

 

“Lieutenant Ludwig?” Pyrrha asked as she strapped herself in to the Skyranger. Ludwig didn't answer, only glancing up at her and raising an eyebrow. “If I may, and please forgive me if I step out of line, but your bedside manner leaves much to be desired.”

Alan chuckled, “Ankle-biter's got a point there, Doc.”

Ludwig drew a sharp breath, readjusting his glasses. “From now on,” he said, “It is _verboten_ for you zree to address me as _Leutnant_ Ludwig. You vill call me Medic, or _Herr Doktor_.” Eyeing Yang and Pyrrha, the former of whom watched over Weiss, he continued, “As far as your criticisms, I vill keep it in mind. _Danke, nehme ich an.”_

Not much else was said for a while, until Rex looked at the Codex's brain, the only physical remnant of that thing, in his hand.

“Whatever's in here better be worth the sacrifices today,” he said solemnly. The ride back to the Avenger was punctuated by a deafening silence from that point on.


	8. It's A Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss recovers from injuries, while Yang and Pyrrha spend the day back at the Avenger anxiously waiting, encountering two of the Avenger's more infamous members

Ludwig immediately had whisked Weiss away to surgery upon returning to the Avenger, and they didn't see him or Weiss for several hours. He had emerged shortly before dinner, his arms covered in blood to his elbows. Even then, Ludwig refused to speak to anyone, only muttering in German to himself as he quickly ate.

Pyrrha thought he was under a great deal of stress, seeing this doctor on the verge of insanity in his work with a thousand-yard stare that was only outmatched by the one First Sergeant Killip had. News of whether Weiss had successfully made it out of surgery were unconfirmed until Ludwig showed up again at nearly midnight, only saying he had made it through “anozzer successful procedure”.

Sleep didn't come for Pyrrha, who stayed up all night. In her mind, that short minute of seeing Weiss wounded was doing a world tour, and she had a season pass with front row tickets. If only she could have reacted faster, if only she had kept better track of her bullets, if she hadn't forgotten her training, Weiss wouldn't be in this position.

Perhaps more disturbingly, Pyrrha thought also of what could have been if Weiss had perished from her wounds. What would her family think? Would Ruby and Blake wonder for eternity where their friend had gone? How could anyone, Pyrrha thought, explain Weiss's disappearance but Yang's return?

The more she thought of it, the more Pyrrha wished she had defied orders, instead using her rifle to cover Weiss, Yang and Freeman's retreat from the facility earlier. If she had done that, checked her magazine, and kept herself level-headed, none of this would have happened.

She had no idea how long she had been awake, but guessed it must have been all night as people around her began to get up. She couldn't even pretend to sleep, instead rising with the rest of them and changing into her daily clothes. Pyrrha took Themis out from the bag she kept it in, preparing to clean it as part of her morning ritual.

Somehow, disassembling this weapon brought peace for a time, a calm she had sought that couldn't deliver sleep for her. The world disappeared for her as Pyrrha took apart and meticulously oiled, wiped down, and cleaned each part that needed it, ensuring it all fit back together perfectly smooth.

At least, the world disappeared until Yang's voice brought her out of it. Pyrrha blinked, suddenly seeing Yang standing in front of her, looking concerned.  
“Pyrrha,” she said, “are you even listening to me?”  
“I didn't know you said something,” Pyrrha admitted, still reassembling Themis.  
“I've been asking you how you are,” Yang revealed. “I guess that answers it.”  
“You have?” Pyrrha asked, surprised. “I...I'm sorry, Yang, I didn't hear you.”  
“Yeah, clearly,” she said, scoffing. Pyrrha couldn't tell if Yang was irritated her or still trying to shake the stress of seeing Weiss wounded. Maybe both. Yang sighed, sitting down next to Pyrrha. “I'm sorry,” she said, tossing a rogue lock of her hair out of her eyes, “I just didn't think any of us would get _hurt_ doing this.”  
“Well,” Pyrrha said, “it doesn't seem like Aura works. I wish it did.”  
“Yeah,” Yang agreed. “Doc said she was lucky.” Pyrrha finalized the reassembly of Themis, securing the dust cover with a satisfying click.  
“We won't always be, Yang. I should have had you covered, and I didn't.” Yang frowned.  
“What are you talking about? You were fighting that Codex thing.”  
“But I didn't have to,” she said, putting her rifle away. “Captain Rex, the Lieutenant, Sergeant Mundy, they all had it covered. I could have helped you three, and if I did-”  
“Don't even think about saying it,” Yang said, gripping Pyrrha's shoulder to reassure her. “You didn't do anything wrong, Pyrrha.” Pyrrha, for her part, couldn't help but stare at the floor. Didn't Yang realize she had had this exact reasoning in her head a dozen times already?

“Come on,” Yang said, hopping up, “let's go get something to eat.” Pyrrha slowly got up, unsure whether food would really help her, but followed Yang to the mess hall anyway. If it took her mind off of thinking about yesterday, it was a more than welcome change.

The mess hall was full of crewmembers and soldiers, sharing breakfast and jokes. Pyrrha didn't even register the food she was getting, just trying to get anything that looked palatable and could maybe distract her for a little while. She followed Yang to an isolated corner of the room, with a small table mostly unoccupied.

As they approached it, however, Pyrrha noticed First Sergeant Killip sitting at it, his plate full of meats and eggs, and setting down an absurdly large glass of some kind of juice.  
“Yang,” she said, “maybe we should-”  
“Good morning, First Sergeant!” Yang cheerfully said, already setting her plate down next to his. Pyrrha sighed, giving her greetings to the First Sergeant as well, setting herself opposite of Yang.  
“Good morning, Yong, and...uh,”  
“Nikos, sir,” Pyrrha corrected, “Private Nikos.”  
“Ah, yes!” Killip said, waving a fat finger at her. “Niklas!” Pyrrha sighed again. This was going to be a long breakfast. She had long ago learned the futility in trying to correct the First Sergeant, and had given up on the notion he would ever get her name right. As the First Sergeant devoured his meal, he noticed that Yang and Pyrrha were silent towards one another.  
Casting an inquisitive eye on them, he asked Yang point blank, “Private, why are you two so damn quiet? Two ladies like you should have plenty to talk about.”  
Yang, surprised by the sudden questioning, said, “Oh, uh, you see sir, we only got back from our mission yesterday, and-”  
“Oh, that's right,” he said, almost as if he had forgotten keys to his house. “Your squad brought down that alien modex! How'd that go, Yung?”  
Yang nervously laughed, gesturing to Pyrrha, “Well, sir, I didn't exactly fight it myself. Pyrrha did most of it.” Killip centered his gaze on Pyrrha, who was totally unprepared for Yang to throw this into her lap.  
“Well?” Killip said in between bites of bacon. “We're waiting, sister.” Pyrrha chuckled, almost as nervously as Yang, before relaying the events of that day.  
“I mostly did my job. The Codex appeared out of nowhere, and Sergeant Mundy and I focused our fire on it while the rest of the team planted charges.”

“Excellent work, then!” Killip said, grinning widely. “No casualties, killed a new alien, you should have gotten a promotion for that, soldier!” Pyrrha looked down, reminded yet again of Weiss's situation.  
“Um, sir,” Yang explained, “our friend Weiss got hit when we were getting out. She's in the infirmary now.” Killip's eyes turned almost homicidal, bulging at this news.  
“What?” he said quietly, then ramped up his volume. “Unacceptable! I'm to be informed of all wounded men on this ship so I can give them a lecture on how not to be shot next time! Who the hell leads your squad, ladies?” Pyrrha wasn't sure where on the hierarchy Killip fell, but she was sure she didn't want him meddling in this. Not now, of all times.  
“Sir, Captain Rex is our squad lead,” Yang said, unable to even attempt a lie. He always found out, somehow.  
“Goddammit,” Killip said, abandoning his breakfast to stand up, fists clenched. “I should have known. Enjoy your breakfast, ladies, I have to go have a _discussion_ with Captain Rex.” The way he said the Captain's name was almost spiteful, and Pyrrha could feel the hatred dripping from his voice. This was a side of the First Sergeant she hadn't seen before.

“When did the First Sergeant hold such a grudge against Captain Rex?” Pyrrha asked. Yang shrugged her shoulders.  
“I have no clue,” she said.  
“Do you think we'll get in trouble for this?” Yang breathed in deeply, contemplating Pyrrha's question.  
“If Captain Rex and Killip get into it, probably.” Pyrrha pushed her still unfinished breakfast away, not wanting to even think about eating anymore. Her appetite had been ruined by one short conversation. Pyrrha and Yang soon heard Killip shouting from across the mess hall, no doubt already confronting Captain Rex.  
“How upset does Captain Rex look?” Pyrrha asked, not wanting to turn to see for herself.  
“Pretty mad,” Yang said. Pyrrha sighed again, dropping her head into her folded arms on the table. This day wasn't promising to be any better than the previous, and it was only 8 AM.

Yang and Pyrrha slipped out when they could, hoping to avoid either Captain Rex or First Sergeant Killip. They decided to head to the infirmary, to see if Weiss was awake yet, but on the way Freeman stumbled across them, on his way to the mess hall.  
“Oh, it's you two,” he said, his hair a mess from sleeping. It looked like he had rolled out of bed two minutes ago. “I mistook you guys for somebody important.”  
Hearing the shouting coming from the mess hall, he looked at it warily, before asking them, “What, uh, what the hell's going on in there?”  
“The First Sergeant is talking to Captain Rex,” Pyrrha said, looking down.  
“Riiiight...” Freeman noted, scratching his face. “The fuck's his deal now?” Pyrrha and Yang looked at each other, trying to decide if they should tell him. Yang shrugged, may as well.  
“He's pissed that nobody told him Weiss got hit,” Yang told him. Freeman's face twisted in confusion, trying to figure out why Killip would care.  
“The hell,” Freeman muttered, “ _I_ barely even care she got hit. Why the hell does he?”  
“You want to repeat that for me, fire hydrant?” Yang threatened, forming fists.  
“Yang,” Pyrrha said, trying to calm her friend down, “let's just-”  
“No,” Yang said, shoving Pyrrha's hand away. “I'm not letting this dickhead talk about our friend like that!” Freeman scoffed, rolling his eyes.  
“Oh, please. _I'm_ the dickhead, yeah, after you guys show up here and things start getting fucked!”  
“The hell are you talking about?” Yang demanded, staring him down.  
“It wasn't until you freaks started showing up that I had to do actual work!” Freeman accused. “Now the aliens keep coming back, and they keep pulling shit out of their hats! I did my time, dammit! I already saved the world once, I don't have to do it again!”

This must have been the delusion Freeman had that Captain Price warned Pyrrha about, that he might start going on about it if prompted.  
“ _You_ didn't save anything, jackass,” Yang said. “You just got yourself out of that Black Mesa place and left everyone else to die!”  
“If you had been there,” Freeman said, pointing a finger at Yang, “you would have too! World's greatest minds, but none of them can figure out how to avoid a fucking spinning saw with a predictable pattern!”  
“Don't you think this is getting out of hand?” Pyrrha asked, both Freeman and Yang, but mostly Yang.  
“No!” Freeman shouted. “Do you know if fermions are really compound particles? You both think you're so fucking awesome, but you know what? Nobody here cares! Your dumbass friend _deserved_ to get shot, she needs to learn about the real world!”

Nothing Pyrrha could have said or done would have prevented Yang from clocking Freeman in the face and then standing over him as he writhed in pain on the floor, shouting at him, “I don't want to hear you ever say something like that again, Freeman, because I don't care if they throw me in that cage again, I'll _kill you_ if you do it. I don't even care if you're the best idiot they have here!”

Freeman moaned in pain, and Yang seemed to calm down.  
“Yang,” Pyrrha said, taking her hand to check it out, seeing it already swelling and red. “Are you alright? How's your hand?”  
“Hurts like hell,” she said. “Idiot has a head like a rock. Guess we have a reason to go to the infirmary now, huh?”

Yang and Pyrrha left Freeman to head to the infirmary, perhaps a bit more urgently now with Yang's hand rapidly swelling in pain. Ludwig and a nurse were already there, monitoring Weiss and other wounded soldiers. Their entrance gained Ludwig's attention, and he too rolled his eyes at them.

_“Nein,_ no visitors for Fräulein Schnee,” he said, waving them away.  
“No, I really do need some help,” Yang said, holding out her hand. Ludwig sighed, heading over to examine it. Noting the twinges of pain on Yang's face as he placed fingers on her knuckles, he asked how it had happened. “I punched Freeman in the face.”

Ludwig shook his head, sighing again.  
Scanning it with some type of device, he noted, “You haven't broken anyzing, zo I suppose you did somezing vell. Und vhere is Herr Freeman?” Pyrrha reported he as probably still in the hall, and almost on cue, Freeman walked in, holding his jaw and moaning.

“She fuckin' hit me!” he said, slightly incomprehensible as he didn't properly move his jaw. Ludwig gave a pointed look to Yang and headed to examine Freeman now, forcing him to remove his hand so he could look at it. Another scan with his device, and he shook his head again.  
“Both of you are fine,” he said, waving them away, “shtop being zo dramatic und take aspirin if ze pain does not cease.”  
“Um, Doctor,” Pyrrha said, noting the barely concealed contempt in his face as he turned to look at her. “I was hoping you could update us on Weiss's condition?”  
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he said to her, “Zo far, she is recovering as expected. She should be back in ze field wizhin ze veek.” Waving them out again, he finished, “Now, _bitte,_ get out of here. I have ozzer patients, you know.”

With their presence officially noted as unwelcome, Yang and Pyrrha headed back to the barracks. There, too, awaited another confrontation. Captain Rex stood by their bunks, his armed folded and already looking irritated.

“Privates,” he said, nodding to both of them to acknowledge their presence. “I've just wrapped up a rather interesting discussion with First Sergeant Killip. Do you want to know what he said to me?” Pyrrha steeled herself for what was likely to be a verbal beatdown of epic proportions.

“He and I had a nice time discussing the finer points of battlefield tactics, as well as strategies to avoid having casualties while on missions. Naturally, I disagreed with some points he made. I don't believe that either of you think this is the first time he and I have had a difference of opinion.” Rex paced back and forth as he spoke, casting glances at both Pyrrha and Yang as he did so, making sure to catch their eyes at least once.

“Privates, I don't make a habit of interacting with the First Sergeant. I would highly recommend you don't either. He's a dangerous man, and dangerous men have no place here. Dangerous men get good soldiers like you and I killed.” Rex was just about to launch into another point, before Alan headed up to him, saluting.  
“Sir,” he said as he approached, “Doc wanted me to hand this to you.”  
“What is it?” Rex asked, confused. Alan just shrugged his shoulders in response.  
“Said it was for your eyes only.”  
Captain Rex read over the note, his brow furrowing more and more with each line. Pyrrha speculated this must have been Lieutenant Ludwig reporting on Yang's spat with Freeman. Rex sighed deeply, folding up the note and dismissing Alan.  
“Private Xiao Long,” he said after an excruciatingly long minute, “do you want to tell me why you attacked Corporal Freeman?”  
“He said Weiss deserved to be shot, sir,” Yang said. Rex's eyebrows danced; he clearly wasn't expecting that response.  
“Did he now?”  
“I can attest to that, sir,” Pyrrha chimed in. “Corporal Freeman was very antagonistic to us.” Rex sighed again, shaking his head.  
“Alright. Privates, while _normally_ I'd commend you for defending your friend when she couldn't do so herself, I can _not_ tolerate you getting into a physical fight with Corporal Freeman. Both of you are off field duty for one week.”  
“But sir,” Yang protested, “Pyrrha didn't do anything wrong! Put it all on me, not her!”  
“Private Nikos could have defused the situation, before it got out of control,” Rex justified, “The blame is on all parties equally. The corporal is also going to be off field duty.” Dismissing them, Rex headed off, no doubt to file paperwork to make their punishments official.


	9. Picky Bugger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menace 1-5 investigates the alien forge facility. What lies inside is far beyond what they expected.

Perhaps the week off of field work was a blessing in disguise, Pyrrha thought. She had at first agreed with Yang's assessment that it would be hellish and boring, but as time went on and she saw more and more soldiers from other squads come back wounded, the more convinced she was that staying out of the line of fire was probably best for right now.

And besides, now that Weiss had recovered, the squad was made whole again, even if Pyrrha wasn't a permanent member. Even that faded away as Captain Rex personally secured from Price the right to keep her on as an accessory. Granted, that translated into “stay with the Skyranger and cover the evac” but it was with Yang and Weiss, at least.

They had now been assigned another mission, top-priority from the Commander. Pyrrha wondered if any of them would ever meet the Commander face-to-face. Nobody talked about them in detail, speaking as if the Commander was a ghost. Yang speculated the Commander was an older woman, about Captain Amari's age. Weiss believed they were a man from the place known as Africa.

Pyrrha didn't know what to think. She believed some rumors about the Commander being old, young, male, female, white, black, anything and everything. All Pyrrha knew for sure was that the Commander was an enigma, and one that she wasn't sure any of them would solve before they left. If they left.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rex said, dimming the lights to the briefing room and pulling down remote scan photos, “this is the big one. Operation Hanging Garden has been given to us by the Commander, for which I am sure we are all grateful for. From what we understand, this is the alien forge facility, the coordinates of which we know from data gained from the alien blacksite vial.”

“Alien technology has prohibited us from gaining a better understanding of the terrain, but we can confirm the existence of a landing pad here – this is where we'll insert from – and two bridges leading up to the facility. There's no telling how large this facility is, or what we'll find here. Our orders are to reconnoiter the area and take anything useful.”  
“Sounds like a fun time,” Alan said, grinning. “Is Nikos covering our escape?”  
“No, actually,” Rex said, “Private Nikos will be accompanying us on the ground. I assume this isn't an issue, Private?”  
Pyrrha shook her head vigorously. “Not at all, sir,” she said, smiling. If they stuck to a simple recon mission, this would be a cakewalk. What could they possibly find there anyway?  
“Since we'll be on a strict recon mission,” Rex continued, “I want to keep us tight. We'll be using stealth to get as close to and inside the facility as possible, so equip suppressors if you can.”  
Alan almost immediately raised his hand, saying, “Sir, I don't mean to be a negative Nancy, but Nikos and I can't exactly use suppressors and effectively take down targets. Still need us close by?”  
“Yes,” Rex answered. “We don't know what the enemy numbers are here. Could be a platoon, could be more. Our only goal is to move forward into the facility and take anything useful, then get out.” Alan nodded, satisfied by this answer. Without any other questions or clarifications needed, Rex dismissed them to prep their gear and pick up suppressors from the armory.

The Skyranger then took them past a city Pyrrha could now identify as Sevastopol, an old city that according to the Russian and Ukrainian soldiers she met on the Avenger, had suffered greatly since the alien invasion. Supposedly, it had been host to a massive resistance movement early in the alien's regime, and practically razed to the ground and rebuilt.

Pyrrha wondered how much history had been erased in the alien's wanton destruction of this world's old cities in the name of “progress”. She heard many a story from Dr. Tygan about the gene therapy clinics, removing ailments and diseases once thought impossible to cure and improving the average citizen's life. She always contrasted that to her knowledge of that vial, millions of people reduced to nothing more than a green liquid. It made her sick to think of it.

The Skyranger touched down in the wilderness, snow reflecting light all around. “Dammit,” Captain Rex said, the snow crunching under his feet, “weather predicted no snow. When did this happen?”  
“It's not too deep,” Ludwig noted, “must be freshly fallen.” Regardless, they had a mission to do, which involved moving forward. Pyrrha noted bootprints already implanted in the snow.

Pyrrha took point with Yang, using her scope to scan the area ahead of them as they bounded from cover to cover. So far, other than the occasional tree, nothing stood in their path.  
“Coming up on the bridge now,” Yang reported. Pyrrha also noted the presence of even more bootprints and what looked like drag marks.  
“That's gotta be a Viper,” Alan said. “Ain't those things cold-blooded?”  
 _“Nein,”_ Ludwig said. “Zey share reptilian features but zeir blood is quite varm.”  
“Eh,” he said, not really wanting a response. “Thanks fer the info, I guess.”  
“Cut the chatter,” Rex reminded them. From where she was, Pyrrha could see the bridge now, a mere hundred meters in front of them.  
“Hold on,” she said, swinging her scope to check each side. “Hostiles spotted, ten o'clock.”

“Yeah, I see 'em,” Alan said. “Two troopers, secto, and a fuckin' officer.” The “secto” was a sectoid, a strange, pale creature with huge eyes and threatening teeth. If Pyrrha didn't know any better, she would have thought it a new form of Grimm.  
“Any way we can avoid them and get to the bridge?” Rex asked.  
“Nah,” Alan replied, “Looks like their patrol takes 'em right in between us and the bridge.”  
“Set up an ambush then,” Rex ordered. “No time to wait.” Staying low, the squad got into positions to give them an advantage over the aliens walking into their trap. Pyrrha's scope centered over the sectoid, though she was acutely aware of Weiss just barely off to her right behind a rock. “Three,” Rex counted down, “two….one!” In quick succession, the squadmembers fired a single shot or salvo from their weapons, each enemy falling in swift fashion.

“Let's go!” Rex ordered. “They heard those shots for sure! Head to the bridge!” Pyrrha broke from cover, sprinting across the snow-covered field to head for the bridge. Mechanical clattering could be heard not too far from them, but even with the vision granted to them by the snowfall, sight of what was making those noises couldn't be established.  
“The hell is that noise?” Freeman asked.  
That question was soon answered by a lumbering machine stomping into view as they neared the bridge. “OH HOLY SHIT!” Freeman yelled, “THAT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!”  
“Be careful,” Chief Engineer Shen informed them, cutting into their comms. “The aliens used this during their invasion to cut through Earth's armored forces like butter. It can chew up infantry just as easily.”  
The hulking monster stood a solid two stories high, probably armed to the teeth with weapons Pyrrha was unable to fathom until she could see them used against her.  
“Sectopod!” Alan shouted, scrambling to find some more solid cover to hide behind. “Get behind fucking cover, you yobbos!” Pyrrha, Yang and Weiss didn't need more encouragement.  
“How do we take this down?” Weiss asked, diving behind a large rock next to Pyrrha.  
“Focus all fire on it,” Captain Rex ordered, “that clanker's priority number one!” Pyrrha peeked out from one side of the rock to try to find...somewhere to shoot at the so-called sectopod, noting Yang and Weiss unloading their weapons at the thing as well.

“Dammit!” Yang shouted. “My bullets are just bouncing off the thing!”  
“Fucking horseshit!” Freeman yelled in turn. “Mine too! What the hell is this thing made out of, carbon steel?!” Nobody really seemed to have an answer, other than to keep shooting at it until it went down. Shrugging off bullets left and right, the sectopod rose even higher into the air, extending its legs to positively tower over the squad.  
“Oh my God,” Freeman sobbed, “this is crazy in a box with a side order of fries!” Drawing even more dismayed reactions, the sectopod's top cover opened to reveal some sort of weapon, forcing the sectopod to pause.  
“Does anyone know what that thing's doing?!” Weiss asked.  
“Turbolaser!” Captain Rex yelled. “Get out of it's line of fire!” Three dots appeared on the ground not too far from Ludwig, as if it was scanning the area before firing.

Ludwig and Alan hastily broke for anywhere that didn't look like it was within the sectopod's range, with Pyrrha, Yang, Freeman, Rex and Weiss continuing to provide covering fire in an attempt to bring the thing down. Not even the larger bullets Pyrrha and Alan's rifles fired seemed to be doing much damage.

“Keep firing!” Rex ordered, “I see smoke coming out of it!” Without warning, the sectopod's laser firing, scarring the cover that Ludwig and Alan were calling home not even ten seconds ago.  
“Alright,” Weiss said, rather calmly given the situation, “now we know. It can't change what it's shooting at once it commits.”  
“Save it for the bloody report, Sheila!”  
Pyrrha reloaded her weapon, about to start shooting the sectopod again when something else caught her eye.  
“More enemies across the bridge!” she informed the squad, pointing towards a group of advancing ADVENT troopers.  
“Dammit! More of them?!”  
“Sergeant, Private, focus your fire on their reinforcements! We almost got the big clanker!”

Pyrrha centered her scope on a charging trooper, holding some sort of sword outstretched as he ran across the bridge on a mad dash. One squeeze of the trigger later, and he tumbled over the bridge to a certain fate if he hadn't already perished. Pyrrha was about to take another shot on a trooper standing by a bridge support when an explosion rocked the ground she was standing on, sending her aim all over the place. Lowering her rifle, she saw the sectopod collapse, taking most of the bridge with it.

“Good job, squad,” Rex said. “Big clanker's down.” Scattered weapons fire continued as Pyrrha, Alan and Weiss picked off ADVENT soldiers on the opposite end, until Rex gave the order to cease fire for the moment.  
“Guess we'll have to take the bridge now,” Freeman said, until he paused and looked at it pointedly. _"I guess we'll have to take the bridge,”_ he repeated, frustrated with this setback.  
“Herr Freeman, ze exercise vould be _gut_ for you,” Ludwig said, his first non-German sentence since the firefight began in earnest. “Ze ozzer bridge is to ze left, six hundred meters.”  
“Then that's where we're going,” Rex said, reloading his pistols. “Let's make it quick, I don't want to give them any more chances to set up surprises for us.”

The trek across the bridge offered no resistance, suspicious to all in the squad. Pyrrha and Alan routinely stopped behind solid cover to check their scopes and see if they could find any enemies. The outside of the facility looked almost abandoned, save for recent tracks from the firefight at the other bridge.   
“Shall ve make our entrance zrough ze front?” Ludwig asked, reloading his rifle as they crept up on the building,  
“I want to check this place out a little bit more. Nikos, Schnee, swing hard right, see if there's another entrance over there.” Pyrrha and Weiss immediately headed over, hugging the building to give them at least some form of cover if happened upon by an enemy patrol.

Weiss took point, leaning across the corner.  
“Anything?” Pyrrha asked, prepared to step out wider and start shooting.  
“No, it's clear. How far does he want us to go?”  
“I assume until we find a door of some kind.”  
Weiss sighed. “That could take forever. This place is huge.” She stepped back, clutching her rifle close. “You have a scope; see if you can find anything.”  
Pyrrha obliged, peeking out around the corner. Her scope didn't show anything new, which she relayed back to Weiss. The building just seemed to go on, without even windows sticking out from the walls.  
“Alright,” Weiss said, “;et's head back. I don't want to be here if they show up.”  
Pyrrha and Weiss jogged back, to find the squad mostly in the same positions as they had left. Weiss quickly reported no visible entrances, leaving their only choice to go in through the front.  
“Menace,” Captain Rex said after quickly discussing options with Ludwig, “lock and load. We're going in hot.”

Rex prepared a series of grenades as the squad reloaded their weapons, moving quickly to the front of the door. Pyrrha was about to ask what he planned to do with the grenades until he threw them at the walls near the door, taking cover behind a set of crates nearby. The grenades detonated in short order, blowing huge holes in the wall and making the presence of the door itself obsolete.

“Sir,” Pyrrha asked, “what exactly was the point of that?”  
“Chokepoint, Private,” Rex answered, taking his pistols back in hand. “If ADVENT were on the other side, we'd have to move through that door single-file.” Giving the order to move out into the facility, Rex offered no other explanation, but Pyrrha could take a guess as to why he would want to avoid that.  
Yang and Weiss took point in moving into the facility, quickly followed by Ludwig, Freeman and Alan, with Pyrrha and Captain Rex taking up the rear.  
“Which way?” Yang asked, aiming her shotgun at various corners.  
“Head left,” Rex said. “Keep your heads on a swivel. I don't like how quiet this place is.”  
“Captain,” Dr. Tygan said over their comms, “could you possibly orient your helmet camera towards those pods along the far wall?” Rex obliged, shining a light onto them to reveal ADVENT soldiers. Pyrrha jumped back, about to shoot until she, and the rest of the squad, realized they weren't moving.

“What the fuck is this place?” Freeman asked, visibly disturbed by the lines of ADVENT soldiers on the wall.  
“First it's human bodies,” Central Officer Bradford commented, “now it's ADVENT. Something tells me they didn't abduct these bodies.”  
“It looks more like a production facility,” Shen said. “The configuration is different.” Pausing, she continued, slightly shocked, “Could it be? Is this where the alien forces are coming from?”  
“No wonder they just keep coming,” Bradford again commented.  
“Nothing is beyond the realm of possibility when dealing with the aliens,” Tygan finalized, further ordering them deeper into the facility. If this was a production facility like Shen speculated, then there had to have been some sort of central room. Yang and Weiss continued to take point, moving past boxes and a small forklift before coming across a door with a large observation window next to it.  
“What's this?” Yang asked, looking inside as the rest of Menace caught up.  
“Looks like Kamino,” Captain Rex said, explaining that it was a cloning planet from where he came from.  
“Check out that room,” Bradford ordered. From where she was, Pyrrha could see a pod like the others they had passed in the center of the room, almost on a pedestal. Freeman and Ludwig moved into the room, ordering Yang to stay close by.  
“Zis pod is like ze vahn ve found ze Commander in,” Ludwig commented, examining it closely.  
“Open it up, then,” Rex said, ordering Weiss, Alan and Pyrrha to take up positions to cover them in case something happened. Pyrrha heard the sound of machinery clicking, and stream releasing, no doubt the pod opening to reveal its contents.  
“How can that be?” Bradford said, “it's just like the one-”  
“Carefully!” Tygan interrupted. “Preserve the specimen at all costs!”

Yang quickly began repeating “What the fuck” quietly to herself, causing Pyrrha to turn to see what the commotion was. They had pulled out...a person in some sort of suit? An alien? Some kind of robot? She couldn't tell. Ludwig was already giving orders to Freeman in German, probably getting him to carry it given how he was trying to load it onto his back.

“I don't see why _I_ have to carry this thing,” Freeman said, grumbling as per usual.  
“Because you don't have a job to do,” Ludwig said.  
“Evac is outside, 500 meters due west. Nikos, Mundy, take the roof, the rest of you, diamond around Freeman,” Captain Rex ordered, heading out a nearby loading door. Pyrrha joined Alan in heading onto the roof, a nearby ladder conveniently located to take them there.  
“Sight's steady, trigger's cold,” Alan said to himself, resting his rifle on a railing. Off in the distance, strange noises could be heard.  
“I'm no expert in the matter,” Freeman grunted, straining under the weight of the so-called “package”, "but I'm pretty sure that's the cries of the damned.”  
“Ready up, Menace,” Rex ordered. “It looks like the welcoming committee's a bit late.”

Pyrrha looked down the scope of her rifle, counting no less than two dozen ADVENT soldiers heading for them. This was confirmed by Alan and relayed to the squad, whereupon Rex ordered Ludwig and Freeman to head forward towards the evac to ensure the package got out securely. For good measure, Yang was also ordered to escort them, in case any stun lancers got too close.

Pyrrha took overwatch in keeping threats away from Ludwig, Freeman and Yang, sending shots downrange as enemies began to move into view. Fire from both sides threatened to cut down Pyrrha and other members of the squad, but fortunately it seemed most of the ADVENT forces were less than stellar at aiming. Skyranger soon appeared, dropping down a tray to lift the package into the ship. Ludwig and Freeman, under heavy fire, began securing it to prevent it from slipping out as it went up.

“Vere is unserer cover?!” Ludwig demanded, asking indirectly for more sniper coverage. Pyrrha took it upon herself to swivel to cover him, noting the presence of a hulking alien clad in green armor.  
“What is that,” she asked. “Another alien experiment?”  
“Muton!” Alan responded. “Pop that fucker in the head!” Before Pyrrha could take a shot, the so-called Muton fired a shot, a horrible bolt of green energy that directly hit Ludwig as the package began heading up. Ludwig let out an almost inhuman guttural scream, falling and dropping his rifle.  
“LIEUTENANT!” Captain Rex shouted, charging forward and urging the squad to do the same.  
“Fuck!” Freeman yelled.  
“He's not moving,” Yang reported, firing rounds at aliens as she glanced back at Ludwig. Pyrrha and Alan soon stepped off the roof, rushing to move forward and rejoin the squad.

“Muton's down!” Weiss reported. “I'll give you covering fire!” From where she was, Pyrrha could see Freeman trying to do what he could to help Ludwig, but he gave up soon, throwing his arms up and yelling.  
“I don't fucking know how to use his medkit! Which one of these fucking things stops him from having a hole in his chest?!”  
 _“Corporal!”_ Captain Rex shouted, “get the Lieutenant on a stretcher! Xiao Long! Fall back and help Freeman!” Yang did so, keeping low under Weiss and Rex's covering fire. After their sprint, Pyrrha and Alan reached the rest of the squad, reuniting them for a short while.  
“How bad is it?” Pyrrha asked, slinging Themis to try and help.  
“You could fucking dive through his chest, how bad do you think it is?!” Freeman shook his head, panic filling his voice.

Despite the heavy fire, Freeman and Yang eventually got Ludwig strapped to the stretcher, and he was lifted up and away from the battlefield. Ropes soon fell down to allow the rest of them to evac, and with Rex holding until all others had left, he too rejoined the squad on the Skyranger. Pings from bullets and other rounds from the aliens bounced off the Skyranger as it made a hasty escape.

“Someone update me,” Rex ordered as he moved towards Ludwig. “Can we do anything at all for him?” Freeman shrugged his shoulders.  
“I...I don't know, man,” he said, “If I knew what any of these fucking needles did, yeah, but he never wanted to tell me anything, and Tygan was always busy, so-”  
“Alright, spare me the exposition there, Corporal.”  
Rex swore in a language Pyrrha didn't recognize, before rummaging through Ludwig's kit. While doing so, he ordered Pyrrha to move over and keep an eye on Ludwig's face.  
“See if he's responding to anything,” he said, “talk to him, slap him awake if he closes his eyes.” Pyrrha knelt down next to the wounded man, and the two locked eyes for a brief moment. She could tell he knew he was dying. He tried to gasp for air, but no sounds came out.  
“I don't know if he'll make it, Captain,” Pyrrha said, alternating between Ludwig and Captain Rex.  
“Corporal,” Rex said, ignoring Pyrrha and handing a needle to Freeman, “get this in him. It's got to be medicine.”  
“I don't know much medical German,” Freeman began, until he was cut off by Rex ordering him to do it anyway.

Freeman drew a sharp breath before turning over to Ludwig, locking eyes with him. Ludwig weakly shook his head, as if pleading with Freeman to not waste medical supplies, or at least trying to tell him he had the wrong needle.  
“I need a vein,” Freeman said. “Do any of you people know how to find one?” Nobody could admit to such knowledge. “Shit,” Freeman muttered. Pyrrha looked back at Ludwig. He had stopped breathing, his eyes set straight up, unmoving, not even blinking.  
“Freeman,” she started to say, but he jabbed Ludwig's arm before she could even say anything, injecting him with...something, no doubt.  
“The fuck,” Freeman asked. “It's not doing jack! What the fuck?!”  
“Freeman,” Pyrrha said, putting an arm on his shoulder. “He's gone.” Rex tore his helmet off, swearing a blue streak across the Skyranger.  
“Did I put the wrong shit in?” Freeman asked meekly, staring at Ludwig's now lifeless body.  
“No, Corporal,” Rex said, tossing his helmet away. “Don't blame yourself. I should have known everything about his kit.”  
“Nobody's to blame here,” Weiss said, standing up, “not any of us, anyway. It was ADVENT that did this.” Rex sighed deeply, not even daring to look at Weiss.  
“Weiss,” he said quietly, “we all appreciate you trying to comfort us, but we should have known how to use his medical equipment. He's dead because of our failure.”  
“You can't blame yourself for that, sir,” Weiss said. “Lieutenant Ludwig was a secretive man. He didn't let anyone near his work.”  
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, ankle-biter,” Alan said, hiding himself behind his signature aviators and slouch hat. “Captain's got a point. We should have known. Shoulda been trained.”  
“Captain,” Pyrrha said, standing up to face him. Rex didn't move an inch from his spot. “Nobody could have predicted this. We didn't know they would arrive in such numbers.” Rex sighed again, a much longer, drawn out one, almost meditative.  
“No, we did know, Private. I ordered them to move forward, we didn't have that area locked down. It was my call, and my call alone that killed Lieutenant Ludwig.”

Captain Rex didn't say anything else for the trip back to the Avenger. Nobody else did either, not that anyone wanted to. Freeman sat in shock in the corner, Alan hid behind his distinctive accessories, and Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha could do nothing but try to find some comfort in knowing that, this time at least, it wasn't one of them. All they could do now was hope it would never be one of them.


	10. I Had Too Much To Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig's funeral is held. Pyrrha, Yang, and Weiss are introduced to a new player, and gain another opportunity.

Lieutenant Ludwig's body was carried off the Skyranger first, and loaded onto a gurney for transport. Dr. Tygan had already been made aware his star assistant had perished on the field, and was already making preparations for his funeral. Freeman and Pyrrha carried off the package, called a “stasis suit” by Chief Engineer Shen and Central Officer Bradford. Through the grapevine, Pyrrha, Yang and Weiss heard that a memorial service would be held for Lieutenant Ludwig at the bar for anyone who wished to join.

The only ones in attendance were the members of Menace 1-5, accompanied by Dr. Tygan, Central Officer Bradford, First Sergeant Killip and Captains Price and Amari. Glasses were raised in Ludwig's memory, and a drink was shared in his name, a lager from Ludwig's home region of Hesse, according to Bradford.

The solemn affair was opened by Bradford opening the floor to anyone who wished to commemorate Ludwig's memory. Alan was up first, raising his glass after having discarded his signature slouch hat.  
“Doc was one hell of fighter,” he said. “Pretty damn weird if you caught him at the wrong time, but hell, he knew his stuff. I'm sure gonna miss you, Doc.”  
Price was up next, already working on a cigar. “Alexander was never the guy who'd make you laugh, but that was alright. He'd always get you patched up no matter what you did to him. Guess we have Dr. Tygan to thank for giving him an outlet for his creative side. Hope you can see Mikhail wherever you are, mate.”  
Dr. Tygan, of course, raised a glass as well. “In another time, Dr. Ludwig would have been considered a genius. Unfortunately, the aliens would rather make an enemy of him, and idle hands are Dr. Ludwig's playthings. I'll long again the chance to discuss xenobiology with the good Doctor. May he find peace in the afterlife.”

Amari prayed for his soul in Arabic, insisting that even if Ludwig didn't believe in any deities, his soul deserved something. Freeman and Killip remained uncharacteristically quiet, and neither Yang, Weiss or Pyrrha felt they had even the place to speak to Ludwig's memory.  
And then came Captain Rex.  
“I promised myself when I came here,” he began, “that I would never lose a single man. Two years. Two years I was able to keep that promise. Lieutenant Ludwig was one of the best men I've ever had the pleasure of fighting with, even if he was on the eccentric side. In all my years of fighting, very rarely have I met a man of the Lieutenant's caliber.”  
“I've watched hundreds of my brothers die. Maybe it's thousands, I don't know anymore. Each one of their deaths has been a stab in my heart. But you, _ner vod?_ Your death? I don't have anywhere left to wound. I'd do anything to have you back for one more mission, Lieutenant. For you, Lieutenant, I'm going to do everything I can to bring these heartless monsters down.”

With nobody else seeing fit to give more words following Captain Rex, Central Officer Bradford poured the final glass, setting it next to a portrait of Ludwig.  
“This one's for you, Lieutenant,” he said, “You can rest easy now. You've earned it.” They all saluted Ludwig, even the Captains, for the work Ludwig had done.

Upon finishing her salute, Yang slipped out, with Amari, Weiss and Pyrrha not far behind her. They hadn't made it not even two feet out the door before they began to break down sobbing.  
“It's alright,” Amari said, holding them all close, “Let it out. It's OK to be emotional the first time.”  
Pyrrha now knew what it must have felt like for Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, Jaune...everyone. It was like a piece of her was gone now, even if she had never been terribly close or even friendly with Lieutenant Ludwig.

Once their tears had been dried, Yang, Pyrrha and Weiss headed to their bunks. Nothing else could be done for Ludwig – he had been cremated per his wishes, spread over Germany as they passed over it. Yang collapsed on her bunk, trying to find words for what she had just seen.

“This sucks,” she finally said after an uncomfortably long silence.  
“I don't get it,” Weiss said, curled up into a ball. “I barely even talked to him, unless he wanted to teach me German. Why do I feel like I've known him for years?” Nobody could answer her. Even Yang, who only knew him for a few short months, couldn't explain why she wanted to give up.  
“Maybe,” Pyrrha said quietly, “there's people who are destined to be in our lives for a time, and we don't know it until they're gone.”  
Yang's eyes narrowed, looking at Pyrrha with a look in between confusion and anger. “What, like just visiting for a while or something? He didn't deserve this. Nobody does.”  
“I can't believe so few people showed up,” Weiss said, not taking her eyes off the bed in front of her. “Did he really matter that little to all the people on this ship?”  
Yang shrugged. “You told me when I first got here that you didn't understand why they kept him around, Weiss.”  
Weiss slowly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Yeah. I did, didn't I? If I knew so few people cared about him, I don't think I would have said those things.”  
“People cared,” Pyrrha said. “If nobody cared, Captain Rex, Price, Amari, none of them would have been there. First Sergeant Killip wouldn't have been there.”  
“First Sergeant didn't say anything about Ludwig,” Yang pointed out. Why would he? From the few times he and Yang talked about Ludwig, he always called him a “crazy Fritz”, whatever that meant.  
“I'm sure he had some respect for the man,” Pyrrha mentioned, trying to stay at least somewhat positive. “Why go to his funeral if not to pay his respects?”  
Yang rolled over, facing away from everyone. “I don't know,” she muttered, hoping that at some point, sleep could overtake her and she would wake up away from all of this. Nobody else seemed to want to talk about it anymore. That was fine by Yang. The less she had to dwell on what it meant to die fighting these aliens, the better.

 

A week passed after Ludwig's death. Menace 1-5 wasn't sent out on any missions, due to Captain Rex allowing the squad time to grieve the death of their lieutenant. Rumors floated around that they might get a new lieutenant, somebody from a squad long since wiped out. Those rumors turned out to be baseless. Sergeant Mundy was promoted to Lieutenant Mundy, and Freeman also was promoted to Sergeant.

Freeman's promotion was a surprise to Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha, but none of them could pretend to be surprised by Mundy's rise. Yang had always thought of Alan as kind of a jerk, but good at what he did, and in the end that probably mattered more than interpersonal skills. Besides, he was perfectly tolerable as long as nobody touched his scope.

And thus, Pyrrha remained on an indefinite on/not on status within the squad. Yang and Weiss constantly pestered Captain Rex to find a way to make her a full member of the squad, if only because they all worked so well together, but they were rebuffed at every opportunity. So it seemed, at least. One day, Captain Rex passed by their bunks on his way to report to Captain Price, pausing to look at the three.

“Congratulations, Nikos,” he said, handing her a piece of paper. “Not only are you formally a part of Menace 1-5, you are also now Corporal Nikos.” Pyrrha's eyes grew wide, recognizing the significance of being promoted to Corporal.  
“I...I don't understand, sir,” she said, struggling to find words. “Why am I being promoted? Yang and Weiss deserve it more than I.”  
“Corporal, I would take the promotion in stride. Xiao Long and Schnee will get their day, all of you ladies can hold me to that one.” Nodding to each of them, he walked away, no doubt off to find Price.  
“This is great news, Pyrrha!” Yang said, hugging her tight. “They trust us, finally.”  
“They trust _Pyrrha,”_ Weiss said. “Not you and I, Yang. But, congratulations, Pyrrha.” Yang shrugged, breaking from her hug with Pyrrha.  
“Come on, Weiss,” she said, “we're making real progress now. I bet you we're on our way back home. Tygan and Shen have said they're finding out all sorts of new things about the aliens every day.”  
Weiss was about to respond, until Captain Price's voice called for the three of them, demanding their presence at once. Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha responded, presenting themselves to Captain Price and Rex, both of whom were looking more stern than usual.

“I've heard talk,” Price began, “that you three have been speaking to Dr. Tygan about something called 'semblance' from your home. Is that right?”  
“Yes, sir,” Pyrrha said, already slipping comfortably into her role as an NCO.  
“From what I understand,” Price continued, "each one of you has a unique one, right?”  
“That's how it worked back home, sir,” Weiss said, “but they don't seem to work here.” Price nodded, and Rex leaned over to whisper something in his ear.  
“If you're sure,” Price said, responding to whatever it was Rex had whispered. “Alright. Follow me, you three.”

Price led them down a series of ever-narrowing corridors, deep into the depths of the ship that grew only more oppressive with each turn, passing by alien machinery and discarded junk from clearing out room on the Avenger when the resistance had first seized control of it.

Eventually, they came into a room filled with four isolation chambers, each one hosting a bed, a private bathroom, and a small table with a lamp. The exterior of the chambers were lined with glass, with various monitors and devices attached to it showing signs of... _something._ A woman with short, wild red hair stood in one, eyeing the new arrivals cautiously.

“This is the Psionic Chamber,” Price said, standing before them with his arms crossed, “the alien psionic network is one of the most potent weapons the aliens have, from Sectoids to these new Codexes. The alien's ability to tap into psionic energy and use it as a weapon is now something even we can claim now.”

“If what you ladies have told me about these 'semblances' is true, then you should be able to unlock it here. Now, I have to warn you, it won't be easy, or quick. Nobody knows how long it takes to understand and utilize your psionic potential until you jump in this thing and try. Could be weeks, or could be months.”  
Price gestured to the woman in the chamber, who had by now stopped paying attention to them and moved on to creating orbs with her hands, one brilliant in color, the other dark as night.  
“That there's Moira,” Price continued. “She's been in here for seven months now. Still don't know if she's close to being able to come out. Everything we have asked of you since you agreed to join this fight has been an order, ladies. This is not an order.”

“It's a tough call, deciding if you want to devote however long it could be to training yourselves on this. But, it's your choice alone. Nobody can order you to do this. All you have to do is step in front of a chamber and I'll take it as agreeing. Walk out, that's it, but don't you dare mention this facility to anyone.” Price lit a cigar, puffing on it before ending, “I'll give you all five minutes to think it over.”

Yang looked to Pyrrha and Weiss, both of whom were also looking to her, and each other. It really was a tough call, wasn't it? Yang turned to look at Moira, blissfully unaware of their presence, creating and destroying her orbs as if it was child's play. What was she still doing in here? She looked like she had everything under control.

She looked back just in time to see Weiss stiffen herself up, almost as if trying to present herself for a ball or something, gracefully walking over to a chamber and standing in front of it. Well, hell, if Weiss thought this was worth it...then maybe Yang ought to at least try. Maybe it could come in handy. So, Yang too stepped off to a chamber, leaving Pyrrha, who stared at the ground.

After what seemed like hours, Pyrrha grudgingly stepped before a chamber. Price extinguished his cigar, standing up from the box he had been sitting on.  
“Alright,” he said. A nearby engineer pressed a button, opening each chamber.  
“Before you step in, you all will be in isolation. The only people you'll be talking to are engineers. We've found it's crucial to this operation.”

Each woman nodded, and with the all-clear from the engineer, stepped inside. The door slid shut with a smooth hiss, and immediately Yang was overwhelmed with how quiet it was. All the sounds of machinery and pipes and computers she had heard outside were just...gone. Each move she made, the rustling of fabric against each other, it all sounded louder than ever. Even her breathing was too loud. She saw Pyrrha and Weiss reacting almost the same way.

“Don't worry,” the engineer said over an intercom, “it's normal to suffer from some level of sensory overload when first stepping in.” The engineer further explained that they would be doing some baseline tests to match it against any progress they may be making, and from there...well, they had to figure that out on their own.

The first week of tests were nothing Yang couldn't handle, simple cardio, a mental test of some type, and a scan of some kind of her head. But, as she and the engineers quickly found out, training for her semblance wasn't easy. She had no idea how it had worked at home, other than as a last-ditch burst of power or buildup to a larger attack.

She took, then, to training with an old mechanized combat unit the resistance had found while salvaging the alien garbage on the ship. Each hit she took hurt, but eventually she was able to hit back harder, even managing to completely destroy it outright. It had taken her a month of training, interspersed with brutal psychological training that almost made her drop out of it all, but she did it.

By the time she had left the chamber, Weiss had already finished her training, Moira had departed as well, and from what the engineers were saying, Pyrrha was almost on her way to completing her training as well. Maybe another week, they said. Yang hoped it was sooner than that, if only to make sure they were all together again.

Events seemed to dictate that Menace 1-5 would not be incomplete for long. Captain Rex had immediately briefed Yang and before her, Weiss, that until Pyrrha emerged from the chamber, either from training or quitting, they wouldn't be heading out on any missions. Menace 1-5 had gained somewhat of a reputation among the other squads as the ones to be sent into what Freeman called “the shit”, and the Commander felt it prudent to reserve their best squad for so-called important missions.

What those missions were was never made clear to Yang, but she did know that the resistance was coming closer to figuring out how to defeat the aliens for good and, just maybe, how to get Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha back home. The Codex especially gave Dr. Tygan a special insight to alien technology, and new orders came down – the Skulljack, new and improved, was to be used against an alien Codex as soon as possible.

But, they had also recovered a set of coordinates from the Codex. Yang and Weiss tracked the coordinates themselves at one point, overhearing them from a conversation Dr. Tygan had with Bradford, and found the coordinates came to rest in the middle of a desert in what was once the United States. Weiss filled her in with info she had read from books in between missions, that part of the world was like Menagerie, endless desert surrounded by the few places conducive enough for life.

Yang never bothered to question why the aliens would put something of importance in the Codex there. All she had to do was kill whatever threatened her and her team, and that was final. Weiss had already been wounded once, Ludwig was now dead. Yang was not about to let some stupid aliens get the better of her, not again.

Two more weeks passed before Pyrrha finally left the psionic chamber, cleared for combat duty once more. Yang and Weiss almost missed her return, had they not been waiting in the barracks just for the day to come. Weiss and Yang were first to come up and congratulate her.

“How uncouth,” Moira said, observing from her upper-level bunk, “and to think you represent the newest generation of warriors out of the Think Tank.”  
Yang immediately turned to her, ready to fight again. “And what the hell is _your_ problem, huh?”  
Moira chuckled, gracefully slipping off of her bed to stand with them, standing a full foot taller than any of them. “I've observed you ladies for quite some time. You're all rather fascinating subjects, if I do say so myself.” Moira leaned down, looking at Pyrrha especially with an inquisitive eye, evilly grinning. “You especially pique my interest, young one. I must know more about you.” Her unnaturally long fingers almost beckoned for Pyrrha, curling creepily towards Moira.  
“I'm not a specimen to be examined,” Pyrrha said, disgust overwhelming her face as she slung her rifle across her back.  
“Wait,” Weiss said, “you said 'Think Tank'. What's that?” Moira's smile faded, a stern, almost authoritarian blank look replacing it.  
“The chambers we were in not too long ago,” she explained, steepling her fingers. “Unless, of course, you've already cleared your minds of such a place? It wouldn't be the first time that happened.”

In a flash, Moira disappeared before their very eyes, only to reappear seconds later, relaxing on her bed and flipping through a book, the title of which Yang couldn't decipher, written in a language almost like English, but at the same time unfamiliar.  
“How did-” Yang began to ask, before Moira cut her off.  
“You three ask too many questions,” she said flatly, not taking her eyes off the book. “I only seek answers.”  
“Squad!” Captain Rex called, bringing them to attention as Freeman and Alan followed close behind him. “Gear up, we're responding to a priority one mission.” Moving to grab their weapons, Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha quickly fell in behind Rex, each wondering what this “priority one” mission was. “Sergeant O'Deorain,” Rex said, “I'm told you're with us on this one?”  
“What?” Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why is she joining Menace for this?” Moira grinned again, placing the book down and slinging her rifle across her back.  
“Yes, Captain, thank you again for the opportunity.”  
Rex nodded curtly, putting his helmet on. “Don't thank me yet,” he said, “thank whoever gave you clearance to fight with Menace.”

As they began to walk towards the Skyranger, Moira, Yang, Pyrrha and Weiss found themselves in the rear. Moira leaned down close to them, her voice barely registering above a whisper as she said, “How wonderful it will be to see the three of you in combat. It's been a while since I've been in the field.”


	11. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menace 1-5 heads to relieve a besieged resistance community, where the aliens aren't the only threat around.

The priority one mission, it was soon revealed, was Menace 1-5's intervention to save a resistance hideout from being wiped out by an ADVENT retaliation squad. Short clips of what they could confirm were occurring played as they headed towards the camp known as “Knife Alley” somewhere in the Russian wilderness.

Each clip reminded the women of Beacon, and it's fall. Yang reserved many a doubt about her ability to be able to keep her composure. Maybe the fact that it was only aliens, and not Grimm, that were doing this would be enough to keep her mind in check. But still, the scenes before her...it was all terribly familiar, and she didn't find herself wanting to be familiar with such sights.

It only got worse when they landed on the ground. Echoing screams and gunshots from ADVENT rifles filled the air, the sky turned a deathly hue of red from the burning buildings, many of which hadn't even been extinguished yet.

“My God,” Yang said as she clutched her shotgun close. “This is murder.”  
“You're damn right it is,” Captain Rex said, taking his pistols out. “Spread out, ten meter spread. Mundy, Nikos, find yourselves a building that looks solid and post up there for overwatch.” Pyrrha and Alan immediately complied, heading off towards a large brick building nearby that offered good height advantage for them.  
 _“Beannachtaí na Feile Pádraig,”_ Moira said, drawing confused looks from Weiss and Yang.   
“Excuse me?” Yang asked, not willing to trust this strange woman as far as she could throw her.  
“She's wishing us good luck, Privates,” Rex clarified. “Keep moving. The aliens could be anywhere.”  
“Some of them tracked the Skyranger,” Alan reported, by now comfortably in his spot on the roof. “Can't tell how many with all this smoke, but there's a good number headed towards you lot now.”  
“Alright, Menace,” Rex said, almost sounding gleeful underneath his helmet. “Time for some fun.”

Yang and Weiss headed forward, acting as a temporary vanguard for Rex, Moira and Freeman as they sought out cover. From beyond the smoke, Yang saw the outline of at least two Mutons, joined by a Sectoid and at least a full squad of troopers.  
“You ready to rock and roll, Weiss?”  
Weiss nodded, checking to make sure her rifle was on automatic.  
As the enemies moved through the smoke, it became clear one of the Mutons was not what Yang first thought it was. The beast stood taller than the Muton, and instead of armor was covered in bulging muscle, its jaw outstretched in a seemingly impossible manner diagonally, and didn't even carry a weapon. Maybe with its muscle, it didn't need one.  
“Oh, what the fuck!?” Freeman shouted. “What the hell is that thing?!”  
Bradford soon answered, tapping into the squad's comms. “This must be what the camp called a Berserker. Reports state it can't do much at range, but don't let it get close.”  
Yang quickly checked her magazine, seeing it full of shells and ready for combat. Perfect.  
“Weiss, cover me, I'm going in.” Weiss was about to start firing, until she thought for a second about what Yang had just said.  
“Hold on, didn't you just hear Bradford?” Yang grinned, looking at the so-called Berserker.  
“Yeah, I did.”

Yang charged forward, blasting shells towards the Berserker as she did so. The Muton and accompanying troopers quickly were suppressed by Weiss as well as by sniper fire from Alan and Pyrrha, making room for her to maneuver around this beast. The creature unleashed a horrible screech, suddenly moving faster and heading right for Yang.

Unfortunately, it managed to hit her, knocking Yang off balance and tumbling around the ground, losing Valkyrie in the process. Within seconds, the Berserker was standing over her, ready to pummel Yang into the ground. Quick reflexes saved Yang, delivering a counterattack punch right to the center of the alien's torso, sending it flying right into a nearby tree.

“Private Xiao Long!” Rex shouted over their radio. “Are you trying to kill yourself, or is this just a hobby of yours?” Yang sighed, sprinting to get her shotgun back.  
“The thing's dead, isn't it?” Sniper fire refilled the air as Yang now noticed the other alien troopers had now perished.  
“Nope, not quite, kid,” Alan said. “Maybe you oughta go up and punch it again, that seemed to help last time.”  
“No need to mess about,” Moira said, firing several rounds in quick succession directly into the Berserker's skull. “I hope we retrieve this when we're done. I would very much like to examine this corpse.”  
Rex sighed, rejoining Yang and Moira with the rest of the squad. “You and Dr. Tygan both, I assume.”  
“I'd recommend pushing forward, lads,” Alan said, “I'm seeing a lot more ADVENT on my scope.” Moira cackled evilly as she pushed forward, disappearing then reappearing about twenty meters ahead of them, calling on them to catch up.  
“How the fuck does she do that?” Freeman wondered aloud, to which nobody could really answer.

Up ahead of them, a dozen various ADVENT soldiers and officers slaughtered civilians, without care to the damage they caused. Cowering civilians were shot simply for existing, it seemed, and only the fire from Menace 1-5 seemed to actually give them pause to do something else.

Weiss and Yang worked closely in concert, her giving Yang covering fire as she tore through aliens with her shotgun, and Yang falling back to cover Weiss if a stun lancer got too close for comfort. Systemically, Menace 1-5 worked through the camp, saving civilians and defeating aliens. After an hour of combat, it all was over as the last shots were fired.

“Good job, Menace,” Rex said, requesting an evac from Skyranger, “we saved a lot of people today.” Yang looked around her, saddened by the dead civilians they found.  
“Not enough,” she muttered quietly. Weiss's hand moved onto her shoulder, a silent reassurance that they still did the right thing. Yang couldn't help but keep her eyes on a civilian that had caught her eye, a young man with his hair set in a long ponytail. Something was... _off_ about him, but Yang couldn't tell what. She approached him, trying to judge if he needed some medical care or something.

Then, suddenly, he cracked his neck backwards as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and a disgusting slurping sound consumed the air. His skin seemed to melt away as his body expanded, until nothing but a mud-like creature stood where he once did, the creature's blood-red eyes staring back at Yang.

“MONKEY ON A STICK!” Freeman shouted, “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!” Tygan marveled at the appearance of a shapeshifter as Bradford commented this must have been the rumored shapeshifters they had heard about. Nobody had seen one until now, and Yang wasn't sure anyone would want to see one again.  
“Menace!” Rex ordered, “open fire!”  
“Calm yourself, Freeman,” Moira said, firing her rifle. “When faced with a setback, we must challenge our assumptions.” How Moira was able to stay so calm with such a hideous creature in front of her was lost on Yang. Either way, though, this thing needed to die. _Now._

Yang immediately opened fire, but not even her shotgun shells at close range seemed to do anything to the creature, only knocking it back as its strangely long arms swung out at her and Weiss, missing both but demolishing the wall they stood in front of.

“The power of destruction!” Moira called out, sending out a purple orb towards the creature, to which it didn't even appear to react, only moaning horrifyingly in pain. Weiss continued to pump rounds into the thing, swapping magazines as fast as she emptied them. Yang soon found she was on her last magazine, and was quickly running out of options.

She was about to challenge the creature to hit her, until two well-placed bullets from Pyrrha and Alan finally killed it, sending its strange goop everywhere. Once again, all was quiet. Menace remained on alert in case another surprise happened to show itself, but alas, no other threats materialized.

“An evolutionary dead end,” Moira commented as she poked the creature with her boot, unimpressed. “This too will do much to aid my research.”  
“And what research is that,” Yang asked, “the mad scientist kind? Why were you even here?”  
Moira smiled, clearly finding joy in Yang's frustration.  
“Private,” Captain Rex said, “I think it's better to leave the Sergeant to her work.”  
“Oh, thank you, Captain,” Moira responded, placing a hand on her chest, “but I don't mind answering the questions of a curious one. Simply put, child, my genetics work has helped Dr. Tygan, and ADVENT, in the creation of their gene therapy clinics. Why, without me, they wouldn't even _exist._ And now, I'm helping the resistance learn more and more about the aliens each day.”  
Yang could barely believe what she was hearing, and judging by the looks on Alan and Freeman's faces, they couldn't either.  
“You're responsible for a _genocide._ Don't you care about that at all?” Moira kept her smile, cocky yet somehow reserved, on her face.  
“We must all make sacrifices in the name of science,” she said, shrugging.  
“Are you _joking?!”_ Yang asked, heating up with anger, Pyrrha and Weiss tried desperately to hold her back, failing. “Millions of people are dead because of _you!_ How can you stand there and act like they don't matter?!”  
Moira's smile disappeared, replaced with her usual stern demeanor.  
“Because the progression of science is far more important to me than your petty squabbles.”  
“Sergeant,” Captain Rex said, breaking in between the two, “I think it would be better for all of us if you oversaw the transfer of the alien corpses back to the Avenger.” Moira nodded slowly.  
“I agree,” she said, looking at Yang again. “At least then I won't be interrupted by self-righteous interlopers.”

Weiss and Pyrrha forced Yang to head with them back to the Skyranger, keeping her from exploding with rage. Yang couldn't possibly reconcile the idea of this...this madwoman working with the Resistance? What was in it for her? Why would the Commander even let her aboard?

None of it made sense. Despite questioning, neither Captain Rex or Alan had answers, and Freeman just kept working through her “teleportation” on his own, rambling about how either his knowledge of physics was wrong, or the whole world was wrong. To Yang, there was only one other outlet she could see herself being able to get answers out of.

Upon landing at the Avenger, Yang immediately sought out Captain Amari, who, like usual, watched from the barracks, sipping a cup of tea.  
“Hello, Yang,” she said, wishing her well in Arabic. “Did you mission go well?”  
“Yeah,” Yang said, “it was fine. Look, why do you let Moira stay here?”  
Amari immediately stopped mid-sip, slowly setting her tea down.  
“Why do you know her? She's dangerous, Yang.”  
“She was on our last mission. She's already rubbing me the wrong way.”  
“That's good,” Ana nodded. “I would have been afraid if you liked her.”  
“She admitted to helping create the gene therapy clinics. She helped the aliens genocide Earth, Ana. Why's she allowed to stay here?”

Ana sighed heavily, putting the tea down. Usually, even when faced with tough questions, Ana's face showed some level of positivity or brightness. But not now. Her face was regretful.  
“Truthfully, I don't know either, child. The Commander feels she is useful, but this isn't the first Moira's done something unethical.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“She was once a respected geneticist before the alien invasion, but nobody could reproduce her lifelong thesis. Moira turned my friend Gabriel into a monster, experimented on herself, and aligned with the aliens the minute it was clear who was winning the war.”  
“So she's a traitor,” Yang filled in. Ana nodded solemnly.  
“I don't know why she's left her job at ADVENT. She has everything she could want and more there, plenty of subjects to test on, limitless resources...it's a mystery.”  
“This is bullshit,” Yang said, only getting angrier with each word. “She shouldn't be here, not with good people like us.”  
Appearing with a small puff of black mist, Moira was suddenly in between them, sitting in a chair like she had been there the whole time.  
“Tsk tsk, Amari,” she said. “Spreading lies again? I thought you better than that after so long.”  
“I will _never_ forgive you for what you did to Gabriel. The aliens should have shot you the first chance they got.”  
Moira laughed, grinning as she offhandedly waved to Yang, her fingers moving like a witch casting a spell upon her. “Amari, you know full well Reyes volunteered for that experiment. Oh, but that doesn't fit your narrative, does it?”  
“What the hell do you want?” Yang asked.  
“I don't want your innocent little mind poisoned by lies about me,” Moira responded, dropping her smile. “My work was always controversial, but it was only because organizations like Overwatch conspired to silence me.”  
“Your work was nothing more than insane rambling,” Amari shot back.  
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I suppose,” Moira said. “My advice to you, young one? Seek to find all the facts before you form an opinion.”  
Just as quickly as she had appeared, Moira was gone in a flash, already back at her bunk. If Yang had met her back in Remnant, she would have been sure she was working with Salem. But here? Her loyalties were as enigmatic as she was.

Yang already hated her. Hopefully, her appearance on the alien's retaliation mission would be the only time she joined Menace. Weiss and Pyrrha looked back at Yang from their bunks, just as surprised as she and Amari were that Moira had interrupted them. Yang jerked her head, a signal for them to join her elsewhere, far away from Moira.

Pyrrha remained wary, unsure of why she had been called over, but Weiss held no such delusions.  
“So,” Weiss began, “what did you find out?”  
“Moira does _not_ belong on this ship,” Yang said, keeping her voice low, “She's responsible for the gene therapy clinics. Ana says she turned people into monsters.”  
“Dr. Tygan also bears responsibility for the clinics,” Pyrrha said, looking troubled. “Does he not belong on this ship as well?”  
“Tygan atoned for his actions,” Yang countered, “Moira brags about them. They're _achievements_ for her. Ana told me she signed on with ADVENT the second they started winning.”  
“What do you think we can do?” Weiss asked. “I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't hold any sway with the decision-makers here.”  
“I don't believe that,” Yang said, rage bubbling within her. “Captain Rex trusts us. Price and Ana do too. First Sergeant likes me.”  
“None of that will matter if they can't convince Central Officer or the Commander.”  
“You saw how everyone reacted when Moira said she was responsible for the clinics,” Yang pointed out. “Nobody knew. If that gets out-”  
“Do you seriously think they'll listen?” Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“Why _wouldn't_ they?”  
“Price once said half the people on this ship have lost it,” Weiss recalled. “This war has taken a bigger toll on their minds than we can imagine. Who knows what-”  
“Forget it then,” Yang said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “If you two won't help me come up with a solution, then at least stay out of my damn way.”

Yang stormed off, irritated nobody seemed to be able to do anything about Moira. Who in their right mind would let a traitor back into their ranks? It didn't make any sense to Yang. Did the Commander know things she didn't about Moira? Or were they just making decisions arbitrarily, without regard to the consequences they'd have down the line?  
In the end, Yang wasn't sure she liked either option. It felt too much like home all over again. She briefly contemplated going to First Sergeant Killip to see if he would try to convince someone Moira had to go, but thought better of it. He was probably more likely to just kill her himself if he found out what she did.

Dammit. Nothing offered a way out. She'd be thrown out of she tried confronting Moira on her own, or forcing her out, and there was no guarantee any of the officers could sway Bradford to try and sway the Commander. All she could do was hope that Moira's disgusting ideals died with her on a mission, but she wasn't sure even that was guaranteed.

Yang sighed as she lay on her bunk, staring at the wall blankly. She hated Moira with everything in her, but was bound by the rules of this ship that, so far, had been good to her. Tygan assured her and Weiss that they were close to figuring out how to get them home. Yang couldn't possibly risk throwing it all away now, but...Moira represented everything she was fighting against at home. Would Captain Rex or Captain Price see it that way? The Commander?

Yang drifted off to sleep, the troubling ideas of Moira and home swirling in her head.


	12. Silver Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menace 1-5 investigates the Codex coordinates they found, sans Moira.

Menace 1-5 didn't receive much in the way of new missions for a while, mostly sent out on supply raids on disabled ADVENT convoys or rescuing resistance VIPs from ADVENT jails. Moira rarely made appearances in the barracks now, instead consuming most of her time studying the new aliens the resistance brought her and Tygan.

Reports filtered down to Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha about the strange beast they fought in the resistance hideout, which had been nicknamed the “Faceless” by Alan, a name that quickly caught on. Moira, of course, wrote the report, describing it as a gelatinous fluid with strange chitin claws. Even if it degraded quickly the longer it stayed on the Avenger, Tygan and Moira were able to piece together how the Faceless's internal structure came together.

Apparently, if Moira's report was to be believed, the internals of the alien were filled with expansion points made of chitin for the same fluid that covered its exterior, rather than a conventional skeleton. Supposedly, it could match colors and material without having to “feel” whatever it was it tried to imitate. How, nobody knew.

Moira's best guess was that it somehow assimilated with a victim, forming a parasitic relationship with whoever it imitated, while Tygan claimed it observed as a harmless object until it felt it had the information needed to infiltrate. Either way, the report concluded, all XCOM operatives would have to be more careful if the aliens decided to utilize their infiltration abilities in urban areas.

Maybe Moira's insane genetics work was coming in handy after all, Yang theorized. Surely they wouldn't keep her on just because they wanted to. Weiss and Pyrrha didn't talk much about Moira anymore, but Weiss did speculate that, perhaps, Moira had information about the Commander and was blackmailing them. Pyrrha didn't believe that the Commander would allow themselves to get into such a compromising situation.

Yang personally thought that Moira was an expert at manipulating people, and the Commander was just another under her spell. In her head, Yang believed Moira learned more in the psionic chambers than just how to make a few fancy orbs appear. She was convinced Moira had learned how to control people's minds like the aliens did.

It seemed in character for her, from what little of Moira's character Yang knew.

Regardless of alien autopsy reports and errands for the resistance, months passed with seemingly little progress, until Menace 1-5 was called upon for a mission titled Operation Banshee Scream. Details of the mission were scant, kept secret until they were in the Skyranger. All anyone in Menace knew was that they were heading for the Nevada desert.

“Listen up, Menace,” Captain Rex said as he finally unsealed the dossier for their mission. “Central Officer Bradford will be briefing us for this one.”  
“Shen and Tygan barely managed to pull these coordinates out of the Codex they had down in the Shadow Chamber. We're guessing this maybe its origin point, but we can't know for sure. Based on the fight it put up, I'd expect heavy resistance either way. Good luck down there.”

With barely even any other information, Bradford went offline. Rex pulled the information out of the folder, distributing it to the squad. Strange, corrupted images were all they had to go on, with a simple map of a featureless desert accompanying it, marked with an X out in the middle of nowhere.

“That's it?” Yang asked. “We're just going in blind on this one?”  
“No choice,” Rex said, “it's like with the other alien facilities. Our scanners can't touch them.”  
“This sounds more than a little dangerous,” Weiss said warily.  
“I wonder if Black Mesa's nearby,” Freeman said, not at all paying attention.  
“Nikos and I can cover you all,” Alan said, looking over the map. “As flat as this area is, should provide plenty of sightlines for us.”  
“I like your thinking, Lieutenant,” Rex said. “You and Nikos cover our advance, we drive up the middle.”

With the plan agreed upon, the Skyranger set itself to drop, sending the squad down to the desert. The night air was cool, almost deceptively so, with strange blue lights wandering all around them like lightning bugs.

“Is the desert always like this?” Pyrrha asked, checking her scope for any anomalies.  
“No,” Freeman said indignantly. “What are these? Fairies? Science hasn't dis _proven_ the existence of fairies, but...”  
“Shut up, Freeman,” Alan said. “Nikos, on me. See that guard tower up ahead? We're taking it.”  
“Squad, let's make sure the Lieutenant and Corporal get there alright.”

Through the desert ground they moved, almost silent against the cracked ground beneath them. Strange clacking sounds could be heard not too far away, almost like bugs. That couldn't have been whatever was in the air.  
“The hell is that?” Freeman asked, his face twisting in confusion.  
“I don't like it,” Rex said. “Reminds me of Geonosians. Keep your eyes peeled, Menace.”

The strange chittering drew closer, but the night offered no comfort to them. As they neared the guard tower, Yang's flashlight caught sight of...something, but what the hell was it? It looked like a leg, but it belonged to a bug that was way bigger than it should have been.  
“FUCK,” Alan shouted suddenly, “CHRYSSALIDS!”  
“Crystal- _whats?”what?!”_ Pyrrha asked, unsure if she had really heard that.  
“You heard the Lieutenant,” Rex answered. “Don't let these useless bugs get too close!”

The guard tower was positively swarming with them. Four appeared in front of Menace, staring at them with luminescent eyes ready to kill, before screeching and racing towards them. Their disgusting appearance betrayed their swift nature, and before she could even think one was almost already on top of Yang.

One shot from Valkyrie stopped it dead cold, sliding past her as the momentum carried it forward. Weiss spent nearly half a magazine stopping one coming to her, while Pyrrha and Alan worked hand-in-hand to down one charging for them. Freeman sprayed wildly, nearly missing entirely and being attacked had Captain Rex not intervened to save him.

The shots drew only more Chryssalids. Each wave was just more and more of these abominations. Yang was sure if not here, they would have been prime candidates for Grimm nightmare fuel. They continued to charge straight at them, ignoring the losses they sustained.  
“There's too many of them!” Yang shouted.  
“S'why we shoot these fuckers on sight!” Alan replied. “Can't have even more of these goddamn pikers showing up out of your chest!”

Slowly but surely, they began to make progress, moving up closer to the guard tower. Ten more minutes of fighting off the waves followed. Yang secretly wondered if they'd have the ammo to keep going after all this, especially if there was even more in store for them.

For the moment, at least, all was quiet. An ammo check was conducted, and even though Yang was sure she had tossed away five full magazines, she still had plenty of ammo to spare. Alan ordered Pyrrha up on the tower first, primarily because he wasn't sure they had seen the last of the Chryssalids.

“It looks clear from up here, Lieutenant,” Pyrrha said, reporting from the roof of the small building. Yang still felt uneasy. It had felt like this before Ludwig died, and every time she had been around Moira for more than ten minutes. Something wasn't right.

The rest of the team, along with Yang, had headed slightly forward, covering the front from any potential wave. Yang's eyes scanned the horizon, but she couldn't see anything past these damned blue lights. Maybe it really was nothing, and her paranoia was getting to her.

The scream of a Chryssalid soon challenged that theory. Yang turned in time to see a Chryssalid hacking Alan apart, and he fell without a word. Strange orange goo covered his body as it slid down the side of the guard tower. Yang immediately opened fire, unloading her magazine into the offending Chryssalid, rushing over to try and help Alan.

“Xiao Long!” Rex yelled. “He's gone! Either shoot that sac or get out of the way!”  
“Dammit!” Yang shouted back. “We can't just leave him here!”  
“I don't like it any more than you do, but if you don't destroy that pod, more Chryssalids are coming out of him!”

Yang tried to hold back tears. Not again, dammit, why was it only her team, her family had to eat these losses? Yang swapped magazines quickly, blasting the pod that surrounded Alan. Despite her best efforts, she could see he was clearly dead. Nothing could save him now. Yang sighed heavily, feeling Weiss's hand on her shoulder.

“Yang,” she said quietly, “are you alright?”  
“What do _you_ think?”  
“Sir,” Pyrrha reported, “there's something in the distance!”  
“What is it, Nikos?”  
“I...I don't really know. But it looks like what we came here for.”  
“Menace, let's move out!”

Yang had to finally admit that they couldn't possibly bring Alan back with them. The risk was too great, Captain Rex said. No telling if he would bring more Chryssalids even if they had destroyed the pod. Eventually, he said, someone would get him and bury him properly, but not tonight.

Double-timing it to whatever it was Pyrrha spotted, they came across a strange altar of sorts. Half-walls lined up against a pair of short mesas, bringing a half-paved road to a platform that held some sort of curved structure. If it were anywhere else, Yang would think it as some sort of avant-garde art piece.

“I'm not sure what we were expecting to find out here, but this definitely looks promising,” Bradford commented, again patching into their comms.  
“That's not the same rift the Codex used when it appeared,” Shen said, “this thing could lead anywhere, it may not even be pointing at Earth.”  
“As with most things,” Tygan observed, “we'll likely need to bring it back to the ship for further examination.”

As the officers on the bridge conferred with one another, the bizarre structure suddenly formed a portal. It wasn't like the ones Yang had seen her mother use, this was less violent and more elegant in nature. The squad closely observed the apparent gate, wherein a strange, impossible to understand ball of some kind came out of it. It didn't roll, like Yang expected it would, but floated above the ground.

As Yang stared at this...this... _monster_ in terror, she took note of the pure white shell it had, with small adjustments constantly being made for some reason. What looked like an eye sat in the center, looking at each one rapidly and in turn.

“Anybody have any ideas for this thing?” Weiss asked, reloading her rifle.  
“Run, or shoot,” Freeman asked. “Run or shoot?!”  
“Menace,” Rex said after an agonizingly long minute, “open fire.”

On orders, the squad began shooting, but most of their fire seemed to only piss this thing off, as it shrugged off their bullets and shook for a few seconds. Without warning, the ball opened, revealing what Yang could only describe as horror that outmatched anything she had ever seen at home. The interior was a mass of strange tentacles with either electricity, psionic energy, or both flowing through its appendages. She wasn't entirely sure what the fuck she was really looking at, other than it terrified her to the core.

“Blow that thing to pieces!” Rex shouted, tossing grenades at the thing as it began doing something. It called down a rift much like the one the Codex did, with Freeman, Yang and Weiss each scrambling to get out of it. Pyrrha continued to shoot at the thing, trying to aim for something that could weaken it.

The rift it called upon exploded, sending the bodies of Chryssalids flying. Yang lost sense of all time and space as she kept unloading rounds into the thing, throwing magazines out like garbage and putting new ones in faster than she ever had before. All she wanted was to kill this thing if it brought her closer to getting back home.

Somehow, none of their bullets were working, and the sphere of doom just shut itself up again, though damaged by their fire. Captain Rex kept ordering them to unload everything they had, until finally, the shots seemed to have an effect, and the strange ball shook violently before exploding outright.

Yang hadn't registered until now that Freeman had been screaming since the ball opened itself up to reveal the horrors inside, which had only now ceased.  
“Do any of you know what the fuck that thing was?” Yang asked, looking around them. Nobody could offer an answer. How could they? What they just saw defied all logical explanations.

Menace 1-5 held the area until a salvage team could take the so-called gate to the Avenger, and recover Alan's body for his funeral. Yang hoped that, in death, he could see his friends again and find peace. She knew he never found it while on Earth.


	13. The Night Will Always Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Lieutenant Mundy's death, Moira permanently joins Menace 1-5. With little time to mourn, the squad heads out on their next mission, to discover another surprising alien foe.

Alan Mundy's funeral was a less depressing affair than Ludwig's, if only because more people showed up for it. Other than the captains, about a dozen other people appeared to pay their respects, claiming they had worked with him in the past, either before the invasion or after.

No grand speeches were made by anybody, only a raised glass in his memory. The drink of choice was a grain alcohol Bradford claimed was Alan's own creation. Ana once again prayed in Arabic for Alan's soul, hoping like Yang that he would find some solace in death that he couldn't claim in life. His name was added to the wall, alongside his date of death and a short epitaph.

Weiss and Pyrrha seemed mostly unaffected by his death. Sure, they shed some tears since they _had_ fought with him for close to a year. Pyrrha might have cried a bit more, since Alan had taken it upon himself to teach her some finer points of sharpshooting. But neither of them cried as much as Yang did, publicly or privately. Alan was somehow a genuine _friend_ for Yang, despite their massive rank differences.

Hell, it had been Alan that talked to her when nobody else would, despite her protests. He had taught her everything she needed to know outside of shooting. Even if it didn't look like he cared, Yang knew firsthand he did. Sure, he had a weird way of repaying gratitude, and touching his scope always sent him into a flying rage, but dammit, he was first to keep people you didn't want to see away if you didn't want to put up with them.

Yang mourned the loss of Alan more than most, probably. Captain Rex took the loss the hardest, naturally, frustrated by losing yet another soldier in an avoidable manner. Once again, Menace was granted time to rest and mourn the loss of their lieutenant. Pyrrha was also subsequently promoted to Sergeant, while Yang and Weiss both received promotions to Corporal in light of their work.

Freeman too was promoted to Lieutenant, which initially he was overjoyed with, until he realized that it meant he would have to start doing paperwork. His joy quickly turned to dismay as he tried to find ways to offload his work onto basically anyone else, until Rex impressed on him that he'd be demoted straight back down to Corporal if he didn't shape up.

In the meanwhile, however, the gate they had brought back and the subsequent autopsy of the being that had come out of it, nicknamed the Gatekeeper, offered real progress. Dr. Tygan called Pyrrha, Yang and Weiss to the Shadow Chamber, promising an update for them.

The gate barely fit in the Shadow Chamber, heavily compressed to account for the relative lack of space in the depths of the Avenger. Dr. Tygan, Chief Engineer Shen and Moira all stood by, observing the alien technology. Yang knocked on the door as they came in, alerting them to their presence.

“Ah,” Tygan said, turning. “Miss Xiao Long, Nikos, Schnee. Thank you all for coming.”  
“You promised news for us, Doctor?” Weiss asked, clasping her hands behind her.  
“Indeed,” Tygan continued, “this new alien technology is utterly fascinating. We believe this could be used to cross into alternate realities.”  
“Be careful there, Doctor,” Moira said. “That's just a hypothesis, ladies. I wouldn't get too attached to it.”

Yang looked at the gate, not offering any clues to its workings other than a strange opaque purple haze. She couldn't help but wish that somehow, some way, her mom could be able to help them, to get them home.

“Well, regardless of that hypothesis,” Shen said, “we've picked up signals that match not just alien signatures, but also the ones that match those that appeared when we picked you two up.”  
“So, wait,”Yang said. “This thing can take us back to Remnant?”  
 _“Just a hypothesis,”_ Moira reminded, sighing heavily. “We need to run more tests until we're sure.”  
“Yes,” Tygan said, also sighing. “Unfortunately, our latest experiment failed, but we are on the cusp of unlocking the secrets of this technology.”  
“Then all this was just to tell us you're not any closer?” Yang asked.  
“We're closer than we were,” Shen reassured, “which is why we need to task you three specifically with our next objective.”

Shen brought out a heavily modified Skulljack, giving one to Yang, Pyrrha and Weiss. It felt much heavier than the previous one, and was definitely larger.  
“We're going to need one of you to use this modified Skulljack on a Codex, preferably while it's still alive,” Shen explained.  
“That...sounds dangerous,” Pyrrha said, unsure whether she wanted the weight of this responsibility.  
“No doubt it will be difficult,” Tygan said, pacing, “but, by gaining access to the Codex's part of the network, we'll be able to learn how the Codex interacts with this gate.”  
“And then you can replicate that technology,” Weiss finished, to which Tygan nodded.  
“Alright, then,” Yang said. “Where's the nearest Codex?”

 

Much to Yang's chagrin, Moira became a permanent member of Menace 1-5, though given Pyrrha was technically the most senior NCO, she had de facto seniority over Moira. At least that fact gave Yang some comfort. She began to suspect that Moira was only present as a way to ensure somebody on the squad knew what to do when they used the Skulljack on a Codex, a theory Yang shared with anyone who listened.

Ordinarily, such a task would be the first priority, and it was in theory. Realistically, the aliens rarely deployed Codexes in the field, and when they did, they became priority number one. Rarely did Yang, Weiss or Pyrrha find opportunity to close in with it to use the Skulljack, and doing so was almost prohibitively dangerous.

At least, that's what Weiss believed. Yang didn't have any qualms charging right into a squad of aliens if it meant killing one of them, doubly so if she could use the Skulljack on something. Weiss wondered constantly if Yang just had a death wish, or if this was just how she always was. She wasn't sure which option was better.

“Hello?” Yang asked, waving a hand in front of Weiss's face, “you there, Weiss?”  
“Yeah, sorry,” Weiss said, snapping out of her reminiscing.  
“Listen up, squad,” Captain Rex commanded, as Weiss noted they were already on the Skyranger, no doubt off to another mission. “The aliens have one of our VIPs. We're going in to extract them.”  
“Anything we should know?” Weiss asked.  
“Our contacts on the ground forced the prison convoy to stop. Be careful with your fire, all of you, I don't want a stray shot to light up the vehicle the VIP is in.”

The squad nodded, readying weapons for the mission. Weiss wasn't sure where they were – she had lost track of where their missions had begun to take them long ago. Moira was the only one who really kept tabs on that sort of thing, and she categorically refused to speak to any of them unless she wanted something or wanted to show off her intellect.

Weiss could easily see how she rubbed Yang the wrong way.

The Skyranger soon began to hover over a crowded city, dropping ropes for them to insert on. Even after being devastated by alien weapons, the city's skyline still shone against the blanket of night, almost defiantly. Weiss believed that it was an indirect symbol of the city's resistance to the aliens.

Off in the distance, sirens could be heard from ADVENT vehicles.  
“That's bound to be the convoy,” Rex said, unholstering his pistols. “You all know what to do, squad. Let's go.”  
Pyrrha stepped off to find a suitable rooftop to set up on as Yang and Freeman took point. Weiss hung back a short distance, maintaining an interval between Yang and Captain Rex, who was practically shadowed by Moira. Weiss hated having Moira behind all of them, fearful she would decide to turn her rifle on them and call it an accident.

Weiss knew Yang hated it even more, as she kept glancing behind her to check and make sure Moira wasn't up to something. Moira seemed to recognize this, saying something in Gaelic each time Yang turned her head. The sounds of sirens grew ever closer, and about two streets down Weiss could see lights flashing.

“I see the ADVENT convoy,” Pyrrha reported. “Eight troopers, two officers, a Codex, and...something.”  
“What's the something, Sergeant?” Rex asked, motioning for the squad to slow down and take cover.  
“I don't know,” Pyrrha said. “It looks like a man, but...it's just a floating torso. He has some sort of staff and a helmet covering his face.”  
“These things are no better than the floaters my father faced,” Shen said, tapping into their radio. “The design may have been updated, but it's still the same grotesque being.”  
“Floaters,” Moira explained, “were alien organic-machine hybrids, employed as shock troops. I never did get a chance to examine one in detail.”

Rex ordered Yang and Freeman across the street to set up a crossfire, as Pyrrha was tasked with seeing which officer had seniority to take out first. Civilians were unfortunately all over the place, risking unintentional fire if the fight started suddenly. Weiss wasn't the only one to note this.

“Sir,” Yang said. “There's civilians everywhere. If we start a firefight-”  
“They made their choice,” Moira said, “if they're not actively resisting, then they're collaborators.”  
“That's rich coming from _you,”_ Weiss shot back. “What was it you did for ADVENT again?”  
“Cut the chatter,” Rex snapped, “they'll disperse when the shooting starts, don't worry, Corporal.”  
“Sir,” Moira continued. “I recommend we eliminate this floater before attempting to engage the others. The Codex can wait.”  
“I'd usually agree with you, Sergeant, but I'm going to have to veto that. Xiao Long, get to work. The rest of you, cover her.”

Yang nodded, checking her magazine. Weiss took cover behind a brick building, resting her rifle on a broken wall that offered decent lines of sight on the troopers milling about the convoy. Pyrrha reported she had found the alien lieutenant, while Moira and Freeman readied their weapons as well. Pyrrha was ordered to take the shot whenever she was ready. That would signal Yang to charge at the Codex. In theory, the training Yang had undergone in the Psionic Chamber would help her.

In reality, though, Weiss wasn't sure. She already had plans to send bursts at the enemies arrayed in front of her, already seeing herself transferring her sights from each soldier to the next. Seconds ticked away as Weiss waited for Pyrrha to take her shot. Everything seemed to slow down as she focused intensely on the trooper in her sights, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen to him.

Then, just like that, the report of Pyrrha's rifle broke the air as an officer fell, and like she had predicted Weiss sent out short bursts to each soldier, shifting her aim just so slightly to account for them moving in ways she hadn't expected. By her count, four more kills could be credited to her rifle.

Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss saw Yang ram the Skulljack into the Codex, followed by a flurry of exchanges from Yang, Tygan and Shen that she didn't pay attention to. More shots rang out from Pyrrha's rifle as the other officer fell, shortly followed by a terrible screaming.

“OK, EVERYBODY SETTLE DOWN,” Freeman yelled, “DID YOU SAY SOMETHING? YOU WANT ME TO SHOOT MORE? SURE, I CAN DO THAT!”  
“You're the only one who's unsettled,” Moira commented. “This floater is fascinating, an improved design no doubt. I must-”  
“Save it for later, doc,” Rex ordered, “he's heading right for Xiao Long!”

Freeman continued to pour rounds out at the so-called floater, which was flailing its arms about in a strange manner, before soaring up to the sky as other troopers fell.  
“Okay, don't freak out,” Freeman said, almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. “I SAID DON'T FREAK OUT, DAMMIT! WHAT DO I HAVE TO FREAK OUT ABOUT ANYWAY?!”  
“Can anyone tell me what that thing's doing?!” Rex asked, trying to get a shot on it.  
“I think we have bigger problems here,” Yang said, as she yanked the Skulljack out of the Codex. Right between Yang and the rest of the squad, a strange purple energy field appeared, much like the one that they observed at the alien gate in the Avenger.

“Captain,” Pyrrha reported, “this alien's called down something!”  
Right below Yang, Freeman, Rex and Moira, equally strange orange beams appeared, seemingly called down from the sky. Was this some sort of alien orbital bombardment weapon? Shen speculated the aliens might have had such a device.

“SCATTER!” Rex ordered, heading anywhere.  
The purple energy field exploded, revealing something clearly not of this world. It looked like a female human, save for the white hair that appeared electrified, standing up on its ends, and the visor that covered its face entirely.

“What the hell is that thing?” Yang asked.  
“This must be the physical embodiment of the Avatar project,” Tygan speculated, “who knows what this being is capable of!”  
“I don't think we want to find out,” Rex said. “Squad, open fire! Priority target on that Avatar!”

Like with the Codex, the Avatar appeared to just dodge their shots, unfazed by anything they sent at them. Pyrrha's shots found the alien floater, dropping it to the ground, yet the pillars remained. A minute later, the pillars of light sent down some form of explosive, destroying anything nearby.

“Freeman! Xiao Long!” Rex ordered, “Get the VIP! Everyone else, we're killing this Avatar!”  
Weiss saw Freeman and Yang move as ordered, then centered her sights on the Avatar. As much as she realistically could, anyway, as after every other shot it appeared to teleport somewhere else. Suddenly, it stopped, still indifferent to the bullets hitting it. It took hold on the strange claw-like weapon on its hip, forming a ball with its hands and sending it to Weiss.

Instantly, she was overcome with strange visions, impossible geometry, and reality-challenging sights. Nothing made sense to her anymore. She heard Captain Rex and Pyrrha pleading with her for some kind of report, but they sounded far away.

Suddenly, she felt a powerful energy within her.  
 _Kill.Kill them all._  
Almost immediately, Weiss centered her sights on Moira. Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth moved. Was she trying to plead for her life?  
 _The Elders smile upon those who kill._


	14. An Imagined Affair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Weiss under alien mind control, the squad needs to figure out a way to stop her without seriously injuring her. Their final mission draws near as visions of home become reality.

"Does somebody want to tell me why Schnee is shooting at us?!” Moira demanded, taking cover wherever she could.  
Pyrrha scanned the battlefield again, trying to gain some insight on what to do. Strange purple energy emanated from Weiss, like a wisp of smoke from a candle, leading her to…

The Avatar.

“I think this Avatar has Weiss under some kind of hypnosis,” Pyrrha said, reloading and setting her sights on it.  
“We need to break that connection,” Moira said, perhaps more calmly than one who was being shot at by a teammate should be. “Disorienting it will do that. Who has flashbangs?”  
“I was hoping I could save these for after we win,” Freeman said, “but hell, I guess I can use one here.”  
“Lieutenant!” Rex ordered. “Get over here and pop those flashbangs!”

Without much other questioning, Freeman headed over, tossing the flashbangs wildly in an attempt to catch the Avatar in case it teleported again. This seemed to have the desired effect, as the Avatar shielded its eyes and the purple wisp Pyrrha saw no longer was connected to Weiss, dissipating away with the wind.

“What happened?” Weiss asked, looking around, confused. “Why's my magazine empty?”  
“Not the time, Corporal,” Rex said, “reload and keep firing at the Avatar!”  
Without needing further instruction, Weiss and the rest of the squad began firing again, only broken by Yang reporting the VIP had made it safely. Rex soon ordered her back to assist them in killing the Avatar.

The Avatar had plenty more tricks up its sleeve, however. It called upon some sort of rift, which Moira identified as a “dimensional rift”, forcing them to scatter again. This was exploited by the Avatar firing some sort of strange energy at Moira and Weiss, who had taken cover next to each other, hurting them both.

This was not unanswered by the squad, as Yang quickly charged ahead and began unloading her shotgun into the Avatar. The rift disappeared, and probably would have hurt the squad even more if they hadn't evacuated in time. Dozens of magazines from all of their weapons lay on the ground, a signal of how long this battle had been ongoing.

Yang finally decided she had had enough. Screaming in a blood rage, she ran straight up to the Avatar, punching it in the face and sending it right into the vehicle that once housed the VIP they were to rescue. This momentary stunning allowed Pyrrha to unload a magazine directly into the Avatar's face, and if that didn't kill it, Yang punched it again for good measure.

Captain Rex ordered the squad to cease fire to judge if the alien was actually dead, or merely pretending. It twitched, a sign Pyrrha wasn't sure she liked.  
 _“Géill do mo thoil!”_ Moira yelled, sending out a bizarre yellow and black ray directly into the Avatar, which lasted for several seconds. Once the beam faded, Moira collapsed on the ground, apparently exhausted by the effort. This did not last long, as she soon stood back up, cackling.  
“What a flawed creation,” she commented, looking at the Avatar. “An incomplete one, I am sure. Curious.”  
“What's _curious,”_ Weiss asked, “your hand in making this thing, or how it nearly killed us?”  
“What an interesting hypothesis,” Moira said, “Neither. Examining this will be most satisfying indeed.”

Orders soon came in to evacuate the area in case more ADVENT troops showed up, cutting short any further debate. Like elsewhere, the Skyranger came to pick them up, also taking with them the bodies of the Avatar and the so-called floater. Pyrrha hated having to use their only transport to move the dead as well, but she supposed it couldn't be avoided. Moira passed the time as they flew back to the Avenger by placing a yellow orb in between them, healing any wounds they may have sustained in the battle.

 

Weiss immediately was taken to the medical wing of the Avenger upon arrival, subjected to a series of tests both psychological and physical by Dr. Tygan and Moira. Moira claimed they were to make sure the Avatar wasn't still influencing her mind, but Weiss believed she had an ulterior motive. The tests didn't appear to show anything ill, and so Weiss was released with nothing further by Tygan.

“So,” Yang asked when Weiss got back to her bunk, “what happened out there, Weiss?”  
“Huh?”  
“You unloaded an entire mag onto Moira. I don't blame you, but-”  
“Wait,” Weiss asked, “I _what?!”_  
“That's about it,” Pyrrha said. “You got this strange look in your eyes, and just started shooting Moira.”  
“Well, I certainly didn't do that because I _wanted_ to!”  
“Why not?” Yang asked, chuckling. “I sure as hell want to.”  
“Shooting people trying to help us won't get us home any faster,” Pyrrha said, frowning at Yang.

Weiss racked her brain trying to remember what had happened. The tests Tygan and Moira ran had her recall some things, but she couldn't remember anything beyond the Avatar dispatching its strange energy at her. They said she had been mind-controlled, but that didn't sound right. Wouldn't she remember such a thing?

“Do you really not remember that?” Yang asked, raising a concerned eyebrow at Weiss.  
“No,” she replied, “it's just a blur. Did I hit her?”  
“Moira?” Yang asked, before shaking her head. “She took cover the second you started shooting.”  
“Honestly,” Pyrrha said, “we're all surprised you didn't hit her. You're usually the best shot in the squad.”  
“Her competition is Freeman,” Yang said, her voice dripping with derision, “anyone could beat _that.”_

Weiss shook her head, not wanting to take part in the conversation anymore. All she really wanted to do now was try to forget about the day, hopefully without Captain Rex or Moira feeling fit to punish her for firing on her own squad. Presumably, since she had just been to medical, there'd be no punishment meted out. However, Weiss still held reservations. She never knew what would or wouldn't trigger discipline with these people.

Two weeks passed, with no news on either punishment for Weiss or updates about the alien gateway. Menace 1-5 was grounded for unspecified reasons, by direct order of the Commander. This freed Moira to conduct autopsies on the alien corpses she had amassed by now, gleefully heading to work. For two weeks, Yang, Pyrrha and Weiss, all they could do was keep pulling guard duty, protecting the Avenger from potential alien saboteurs and honing their aim.

When not on guard duty, Weiss spent a lot of her time reading through the few history books that the Avenger had managed to salvage from around the world. Most if it didn't make sense to her, with many books assuming the reader already had a working knowledge of the world and how it related to one another. Weiss found herself keeping a notebook filled with notes on what she learned close by.

Even then, remembering how the nations of old looked at each other and reacted to one another was difficult. Weiss constantly had to remind herself that this Germany Ludwig had always insisted she was from was never looked upon favorably. Constantly she saw a militarized Germany as a threat in the world discussed in the books, with nearby nations always seeking to counteract it. Weiss wondered if other kingdoms saw Atlas in the same vein.

Even China, where Yang was suspected to be from by most people, was a broken and fractured empire. Constant periods of unity and disunity plagued the nation's history, and it seemed the only way the Chinese could find harmony was when under an autocracy, masking the people under the banner of a dictator. Did people think that of Yang, believing her to hide under some sort of mask?

Greece too was a subject of Weiss's speculation and wonder. Constantly under threat, considered by many to be the epicenter of civilization. Did Remnant see Mistral the same way? Or was Pyrrha like ancient Greek heroes, condemned to a dismal fate by virtue of being at the mercy of a group of uncaring gods?

“Hey,” Yang said, breaking Weiss out of her reading and speculation. “Tygan wants to see us. I guess they made a breakthrough.”  
Weiss nodded, putting her book away and heading with Yang to report to Tygan. Since Ludwig's passing, Tygan didn't seem to make mention of him anymore, except when finding old reports of his or rarely a pair of his glasses inevitably left behind in the labs. Tygan liked to joke that Ludwig lost more pairs of glasses in two weeks than most people would wear in a lifetime.

The alien gate had, by now, been fully powered up and still showed the strange purple haze, blocking sight beyond it. Even now, stripped down to the barest components and downsized, it still gave off a terrifying energy.

“Ah, ladies,” Tygan said, turning away from a monitor as they stepped in. “I'm glad you could come so quickly.”  
“This is great news,” Shen said, keeping her eyes glued to a monitor. “Doctor, don't waste any time – tell them.”  
“Yes, of course, Shen. Ladies, I believe we have unlocked the secrets of the psionic gate.”

As if on cue, the psionic gate opened, revealing Remnant. Weiss clearly recognized the ruins of Beacon Academy, even now still burning from the events of that night. She heard Yang gasp quietly next to her. Pyrrha too drew a sharp breath.

“That's it,” Yang said, on the verge of tears again, “we really can-”  
“Yang,” Weiss said, turning to her and holding her close. “We'll be back soon.”  
“Two fucking years,” Yang said, crying. “I can't believe it. We're so close, Weiss, but goddammit it, we're so far too.”  
“Seeing Beacon again,” Pyrrha said, almost as if in a haze. “It's surreal. Is that what it looks like now?”  
“Ever since it fell,” Weiss said, still holding Yang close.  
“I can see this has brought back some hard memories for you all,” Tygan said, motioning for Shen to close the gate. “Unfortunately, we still can't take anyone through this gate, not yet. We're very close though. We just need a little more time to prepare.”  
“More time?” Yang said, looking at Tygan with a death stare. “How much more time do you need? We've been waiting on this promise for two years.”  
“I understand, but there's two more components we need to put into place. The psionic gate doesn't just accept anyone, it needs a specific genetic sequence. Anything else risks being torn to shreds.”  
“Tell me who to kill,” Yang said, her tears gone by now, “you want every alien on this planet? I'll bring them to you, just point me at them.”  
“While I'd love to utilize your combat prowess,” Tygan said, laughing, “these preparations don't require such violent methods. Rest assured, you will all be updated the moment we make progress.”

Disappointed yet again, Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha filtered out of the room once more. Once again, Menace 1-5 was grounded for any mission except basic supply raids, for reasons unspecified. Two more weeks passed for them, and even Weiss was beginning to grow impatient with the delays. She tried to reason with herself on how Tygan and his staff could be so close to getting them back, and yet impossibly far at the same time.

In the end, she imagined there was no good reason. Their priorities were elsewhere, focused on defeating the aliens first, getting them home second. Sometimes she wished that this experiment of hers had never gotten them here, stuck on this bizarre planet in a fight that wasn't theirs.

At the end of the third week, Menace 1-5 as a whole was summoned to the psionic gate, ordered to appear with their gear for a quick deployment afterwards.  
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Tygan announced, full of glee, “we are ready to strike at the heart of the alien's control network over our planet.”  
Cheers erupted out of Freeman, Moira and Rex, as Weiss and her friends clapped.  
“For this, the Commander has personally ordered Miss Nikos, Schnee and Xiao Long detached from Menace 1-5 to conduct a commando raid on the alien communications relay.”  
“Hold on,” Captain Rex said, “why just them?”  
“The Commander didn't tell us why, just said that's the orders,” Shen explained.  
“I'm not a big fan of splitting up my team, Doctor.”  
“I understand, Captain,” Tygan said. “The Commander also said that, simultaneously, the rest of Menace 1-5 will be temporarily attached to Misfit 1-3 to conduct a mass diversionary raid near Berlin.”  
“Killip's squad?!” Rex demanded, incredulous. “That's unacceptable, I will not be subordinate to that madman!”  
“You won't be,” Tygan said, trying to calm Rex down. “He has strict instructions to listen to any orders you give out.”  
“I guess that's alright, then,” Rex said, clearly unhappy with the idea of it. Now dismissed, Rex, Freeman and Moira headed out to join with Killip's squad, leaving only Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha to receive their orders.

“Ladies,” Central Officer Bradford said as he entered, nodding in respect to Tygan. “I assume Dr. Tygan has already briefed you broadly on your new mission?”  
“Yes, sir,” Pyrrha said.  
“Let me fill in some gaps. The aliens control their forces through this structure, which judging by readings we've been getting, is some form of psionic amplifier. This also houses all the media they've been using to brainwash the people of Earth.”  
A hologram appeared, displaying the target building, seemingly infinitely high. A strange structure was housed in the middle of the topmost floors, with ornate peaks built into it.  
“What you'll be doing,” Bradford continued, “is infiltrating the area and replacing the alien broadcast signals with those of our own. This is a highly dangerous mission, ladies. The aliens will be guarding this with some of their best. Are you up to the task?”

Weiss looked at Yang and Pyrrha, both of whom had steely determination on their faces.  
“We are, sir,” Pyrrha said, speaking for all three of them. Yang and Weiss nodded to confirm just that.  
“Excellent,” Bradford said. “Pack as much gear as you can. The aliens won't make it easy on you.”  
Formally dismissed now, Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha headed to the barracks to grab packs and rucksacks, stuffing them with explosives, medical kits, and perhaps most importantly of all – ammo. Weiss alone must have found a way to carry an extra seven magazines on her person, above and beyond her usual load.

“This is it, guys,” Yang said, “who wants to go kill some aliens?”  
“SERGEANT, CORPORALS!” Rex shouted, and on instinct the three stiffened up. Rex walked directly in the middle of them, staring them down before breaking into a wide grin. “You ladies make me proud as hell, do you know that?”  
“S-sir?” Weiss asked, unsure what was happening.  
“When you three first appeared on this ship, I thought it was a mistake. Thought you all were freeloaders. I'm proud to say you're all as faithful warriors as the men I fought with at home.”  
“Thank you, sir,” Yang said, unmoving from her position.  
“I don't have many brothers anymore, but you? All of you are my sisters now. Good luck out there, sisters. Knock a few off for me, will you?”  
“We'll kill one for each one of Menace they killed, sir,” Pyrrha promised, her voice cracking.  
“Just what I wanted to hear. Your ride's waiting for you, I'd get there soon.”

Soon, Weiss, Pyrrha and Yang were on their way to the alien tower, with a single goal in mind. It was time to take revenge on the aliens for everything they had done to them, and the people of Earth.

It's what Huntresses do, after all.


	15. Night Witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all comes down to this. With a collapsing hold on Earth, the aliens are scrambling to recover. The Commander personally takes control of a repurposed Avatar to lead a mission against the heart of the alien's logistics network on Earth.

The alien radars had been temporarily disabled by the Avenger as they flew in, and further distractions meant that Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha were able to do their work almost freely. Inserting wasn't the issue, but going from there...that was the hard part.

Pyrrha saw no less than four squads of aliens in front of them, all patrolling on the only viable route to their objective. They had to have been hundreds of feet in the air by now, each wind blowing hard against their bodies. Weiss couldn't fathom the purpose of such an ornate structure for such mundane purposes.

“So, what's our plan here?” Yang asked, checking her shotgun for the millionth time.  
“They're going to hear the shots,” Weiss commented, noting the classic patrol-counterpatrol strategy the aliens had undertaken. Isolating a single squad would be impossible.  
“No doubt,” Pyrrha said, perched up on an outlying shack of sorts. “Weiss, you can cover Yang as she moves up. The troopers won't be an issue for your shotgun, but it's those floaters I'm worried about.”  
“I heard Tygan took to calling those things 'Archons'. Can you believe it?” Yang said.  
“No matter what they are, we need to get rid of them quick.”  
“If Yang closes in, then I can keep their heads down while you pick them off, Pyrrha,” Weiss advised, already prepared to lay down suppressing fire.  
“That'll have to work,” Pyrrha said. “Ready?”

Yang and Weiss reported they were, and like a ballet, Pyrrha and Weiss opened fire as Yang charged forward, blasting aliens with her shotgun until she was right on top of the Archon that stood in her way. Before it could even react to her presence, Yang had pumped two shots one after the other into it, sending it flying off the platform to the depths below.

For her part, Weiss kept pouring rounds downrange, scoring at least two more kills for herself as Pyrrha's rifle pounded out shots, taking out select targets across the bridge leading to a sort of common area.  
“Clear here,” Yang shouted, “Move up, I see more coming!”

Weiss checked to make sure Pyrrha was following, and then sprinted across and over the fallen aliens to rendezvous with Yang, with Pyrrha not far behind.  
“What's it look like?” Weiss asked, reloading.  
“Two sectoids, an officer, and a muton. Who wants what?”  
“I'll take out the officer,” Pyrrha volunteered.  
“The sectoids aren't a problem for me,” Weiss responded, racking the bolt of her rifle.  
“Well then,” Yang said, “looks like I get to dance with the muton.”

The division of labor clear, the trio moved out to tackle their various foes. The sectoids moved in concert with one another, screeching at Yang as she sprinted past them. Both raised former ADVENT troopers from the dead to try and flank Pyrrha, but their elaborate gestures to raise the psionic zombies only gave Weiss a perfect opportunity to mow them down with relative ease, not even spending half of her magazine to do so.

Shots from Pyrrha's rifle rang out as the officer fell, screaming in pain. Yang too could be heard shouting, but not in pain, rather an inhuman battle cry, unloading shells into the muton and watching it fall over, groaning. Not even ten meters away, their objective stood in sight. All they had to do now was get inside and hack into the network. Simple.

At least, simple if the two Codexes hadn't shown up. Yang was first to point them out, followed by more shots from Pyrrha's rifle. At least one of them hit, as two Codexes soon turned into three. Yang took cover behind a sturdy-looking wall, pulling a bag of grenades out from her kit, priming each one in turn and throwing them wildly at the Codexes.

Even with their teleportation abilities, the Codexes couldn't avoid being hit by the grenades, killing at least as many that appeared, in all four new bodies falling. Weiss had already lost count of how many had actually appeared, just knowing she had to keep shooting at them as fast as they popped up.

One of them called down a rift, threatening to hurt Yang, but she looked at the obstacle and charged right through it to punch a Codex in the face. Somehow, that appeared to have actually killed it, but like usual the rift didn't dissipate. Three Codexes still remained, with authoritative shots from Pyrrha knocking down one more.

The building they were supposed to have infiltrated now stood in ruins, providing excellent cover for the aliens, though Yang made sure even that was impossible, still chucking grenades everywhere she could reach. Weiss emptied another magazine into the building, trying desperately to hit something, until one final mechanical scream emanated from the building.

Their fire stopped as they tried to judge whether they had really killed the last Codex. A minute passed with nothing happening, that being the final answer they had. Moving quickly in case alien reinforcements came, Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha headed into the building. The station they were to hack into stood in the middle of the room, relatively unscathed by Yang's grenade assault.

Pyrrha took point in uploading the data, taking just a few seconds to do so. Once she reported it done, the Skyranger immediately came to pick them up. It hovered near the last standing balcony, dropping its ramp to reveal...Captain Rex and the rest of Menace 1-5.  
“Good job, ladies,” Rex said, holding out his hand to help them get in. “One more, then we all go home.”

 

In a most unusual bid, both Menace 1-5 and Misfit 1-3 had been tasked with “one more mission”, even more unusually alongside the Commander, who now inhabited an Avatar body that Tygan and Shen had built on the Avenger. Weiss couldn't even pretend to comprehend how this all worked, but if it meant going home, she was on board.

Their mission had now taken them though the alien psionic gate, to a place that Tygan only called the “alien's base of operations”. It looked like they were deep underwater somewhere – thick glass plates shielded them from the elements as strange alien architecture dotted the landscape. Weiss could see aquatic creatures swimming past them, curious as to their presence.

Almost immediately upon entering this strange world, a voice called out to them.  
“Your form is but a shadow of our truth,” it crooned, “We seek to defy that which would consume us all. Your efforts deny the sacrifice of those who came before. You leave us no choice.”

It sounded like a thousand voices at once, a million souls all trying to have their voice heard amidst the madness. And with it, Weiss realized she had heard it before. She had seen this before. The memories of being under alien mind control flooded back to her, the overwhelming urge to shoot everyone, anyone, most of all Moira.

Nobody spoke a word other than brief commands as they moved through the bizarre underwater facility, destroying wave after wave of alien troops dedicated to standing guard against their incursion. All the while, the voices demanded of them to surrender, to become one with them, to finally criticizing them for their arrogance in believing they could defy the alien's plans.

They eventually reached a chamber, which held strange walls and four platforms.  
“This doesn't look like a concert hall,” Freeman said, trying to hide his panic under humor.  
“No,” Killip said, his first words since actually getting in. “Prime ambush position, men. Get ready.”  
Almost as if on cue, three Avatars appeared before them, joined by a veritable horde of alien troops ranging from Chryssalids to mutons to Archons and sectoids. Even the odd Faceless appeared, pointing discriminatory fingers at them.

Somebody gave the call to open fire, and each soldier scattered in a blaze of gunfire. Enemy Chryssalids charged first, immediately hacking up a man from Killip's squad. The sole grenadier in the group screamed incoherently, firing off grenades against anything that moved. Weiss and Pyrrha covered Yang as she deftly moved in between mutons, popping shotgun shells into their backs.

And through it all, Killip and Rex stood side by side, covering each other like they had fought a million battles before. Weiss could scarcely hear herself think over the gunfire, each round overlapping with one another and shattered occasionally by the burning sound of alien plasma weapons blasting by her ears. The Avatars tried their best to disorient, confuse and mind control them, mostly failing.

“Focus your fire on the Avatars!” the Commander ordered, using a voice that wasn't theirs.  
“Shifting fire!” Weiss responded, reloading and centering her sights on an Avatar. She wouldn't let the aliens control her mind again. Short, controlled bursts sent it reeling, and a followup reply from Yang killed it outright.

Next to her, Pyrrha unloaded an entire magazine directly into another Avatar's head, complemented by fire from Moira as she again yelled out in Gaelic, sending orbs and her strange rays everywhere, somehow healing and hurting at the same time.

In the confusion, another man from Killip's squad fell, the grenadier. The remaining Avatar had decided to cut out the middleman and shoved its arm right through his chest, killing him instantly.  
“LISTEN UP, MAGGOTS,” Killip screamed loud enough to be heard over all fire, “I'M NOT LOCKED IN THIS FACILITY WITH YOU, _YOU ARE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME!”_  
Screaming in a blood rage, Killip immediately charged at the offending Avatar, spraying his weapon wildly as he did so. Somehow, he had found time to fix a bayonet to it, resorting to charging with it when he ran out of ammo in his magazine.

Usually, Weiss would have expected the Avatar to teleport, or at least move out of the way, but instead it did nothing. Pyrrha began to shoot at it, sensing an opportunity, but not even that could phase it. Instead, it drew its hand up, as if to prepare something, but even Weiss could see it was reacting too late. Killip made his charge, stabbing the alien directly in the chest, still screaming wildly, and took to keep stabbing it.

This didn't appear to do anything other than piss it off.

The Avatar responded by grabbing Killip's weapon and throwing him across the room like a ragdoll, bouncing him off the ornate wall in the middle of the room. With few other options left, Menace and Misfit collectively focused every bullet they had on the Avatar, sending shots wide as it teleported around, toying with them.

“Dimensional rift!” Moria called, again prompting a cut-off rant from Freeman about “defining terms”.  
Weiss looked to Yang, who was in cover reloading her shotgun. Yang's eyes caught hers, and both knew immediately they only had one option left: close in for the kill. Nodding and grinning, Yang stepped off, charging for the Avatar before it had a chance to teleport again.

Weiss too began sprinting, using glyphs to get herself there even faster and freezing the Avatar in place, stopping it from moving anywhere.  
“Fuck! You!” Yang yelled as she unloaded on the easy target, breaking the mask it had for itself.  
Underneath the broken mask, however, lay a horribly disfigured face that almost reminded Weiss of Cinder, except a thousand times more grotesque. Undeterred, Weiss joined in on shooting the Avatar, making sure if Yang didn't kill it, she at least would.

After what must have been thousands of rounds spent by all parties involved, the final Avatar fell, screeching horribly as the last remaining vessel of the aliens on Earth. Immediately, the facility they were in began to shake and crumble.

“Without the Elders stabilizing the psionic network,” Shen said, “everything's going haywire! That gate's not going to hold much longer!”  
“You heard her, people,” Bradford said, with an urgency and panic they had never heard before in his voice, “MOVE!”

 

 

Weiss broke through the psionic gate, panting as she did. She was back on the Avenger, with Yang, Pyrrha, Rex, Freeman, even Moira and what remained of Misfit 1-3.  
“That was the best battering I've ever seen!” Killip announced, clutching his chest in pain soon after, forgetting he had broken several ribs in his stunt against the Avatar.  
“I can't believe we did it,” someone Weiss had heard referred to as “Hannah” said.  
“Hey,” said a Russian man, turning a television towards them, “look at what you did.”

Weiss looked up, seeing images of the ADVENT grand speech. The man that Alan had once derided as “ADVENT's personal human face” gave an otherwise lovely speech announcing the victory of ADVENT, blissfully unaware of the images behind him that betrayed everything ADVENT had been doing. Crowds rushed up to assault him, and even more images flooded in of cities rioting, clips of ADVENT soldiers retreating and pulling back.

They really did it. Weiss couldn't help but grin at this point – they had finally won, dammit.

Weiss, Pyrrha and Yang had taken some time to sleep before finally departing. Besides, they also had to change back into their regular clothes just in case something strange happened on the way back home. Weiss in particular didn't want to risk showing up back home without anything on, especially if she would be just randomly dropped somewhere like she was here.

“Thank you all for your sacrifices,” Bradford said, “I wish we could give you something to remember your deeds by, but I think the memories will have to do.”  
“Thank you for upholding your promises,” Weiss said.  
“Yeah,” Yang commented, “I...I doubted you guys for a while.”  
“I probably would have too,” Bradford said, chuckling. “Well, ladies, if there's nothing else.”

Tygan opened the psionic gate, which by now they could safely move Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha through without risking death or dismemberment thanks to documents found from unburnt ADVENT facilities. Weiss shook the hands of each officer, right after Yang and Pyrrha, giving Moira a cold shoulder.

Weiss took a deep breath before facing the gate. Soon, she'd be home again. But just like that, she saw Pyrrha step back out of the corner of her eye.  
“Pyrrha?” she asked, turning around. Yang too turned, just as confused as Weiss.  
“I'm sorry,” Pyrrha said, “I don't think I can do this.”  
“What do you mean?” Yang asked, shrugging.  
“I died on Remnant. What happens to me if I go back?”  
“Maybe you reincarnate,” Weiss speculated. “It's happened before...”  
“I didn't get the Spring Maiden's powers, and even if I did...no. I can't risk it.”  
“Pyrrha, god dammit, after all we fucking did, you want to back out now?!” Yang clenched her fists, anger clearly boiling in her voice.  
“I don't belong there anymore, Yang. I'm sorry, to both of you. No, I...I belong here. There's still good to be done on Earth.”  
“But, wait,” Weiss said. “Doctor, you can open this portal again, right?”  
“I'm afraid not, Miss Schnee,” Tygan said, grimly shaking his head. “The connection between Earth and Remnant is...unstable. This is the only chance any of you have to go back home for the foreseeable future.”

Yang and Weiss looked at Pyrrha, then to each other, equally despondent. Weiss knew that Yang understood what this meant, for all of them. Yang sighed, on the verge of tears again. Admittedly, Weiss was too.  
“God dammit,” Yang said, running over to Pyrrha and hugging her, “You idiot. I won't ever forget you.”  
“I won't forget you either, Yang.”  
Weiss too ran over and hugged her, holding Yang as well.  
“If this is what you want, Pyrrha...” she said, still hoping she could convince her otherwise.  
“It is, thank you, Weiss. I'll miss you.”  
“Not as much as we'll miss you,” Weiss responded.  
“I just have one request,” Pyrrha said.  
“Yeah?”  
“Don't tell Jaune. If he knew that I was alive here...I think it'd break his heart.”

Weiss and Yang looked at each other, unsure how to react. Normally, this would be great news, but...they've already been through so much in so short a time. Weiss wasn't sure Jaune would even believe them.  
“Alright,” Weiss said. “We won't tell him. We...shouldn't tell anyone, really.”  
“Yeah,” Yang said. “Who'd believe we spent two years fighting aliens anyway?”  
“Thank you, both of you,” Pyrrha said, shedding tears of joy and sadness now. “You...you should really go now.”

Reluctantly breaking from their hug, Yang and Weiss said a final goodbye to Pyrrha, waving one last time to her and the rest of the Avenger that had helped them. They then both turned and stood in front of the psionic gate, showing somewhere in Remnant, nice and peaceful.  
“Deep breaths, Weiss,” Yang said, nudging her.  
“Back home,” Weiss said quietly, stepping through the gate.

 

 

Weiss landed in a forest, bringing back memories of being in Germany. This time, it was all familiar, from the far-off sounds of Grimm to looking down and seeing her new clothes, still ruined by the hole from when she was stabbed.  
“Weiss?” Yang called out. Weiss turned to the sound, and saw Yang, as she should be, older, still missing her arm, and back to smiling again.  
“We're really back,” Weiss said, running over and hugging her again.  
“Yeah, we really are.”

The two hugged for who knows how long, just glad to be back home. Even if it wasn't where they had started, it didn't look like much had changed. Yang told Weiss that this was about where she had been when she suddenly found herself on Earth, looking for Weiss in this very forest. From there, they tracked a path back to the place they stayed at before the battle of Haven.

“Do you think anyone's still here?”  
“God, I hope so,” Yang said, moving to open the door. The sky had darkened, and only a few lights could be seen from inside. Weiss hoped that Ruby, Qrow, and the others were still there. As Yang opened the door, she and Weiss walked in, not noticing anything out of place. It looked almost the same as it had been when Weiss left.

“Hello?” Ruby asked, yawning. She stopped mid-yawn, her eyes growing wide as she saw Weiss and Yang. “You're back!”  
“Yeah,” Weiss said, practically tackled by Ruby. “How long were we gone?”  
“Well,” Ruby said, “I think it's been two weeks? Where were you, Yang? We thought you got lost.”  
“I, uh,” Yang said, trying to make up an excuse, “I split off, kept searching on my own. You know.”  
“Oh, alright,” Ruby said, not even questioning this answer. “Well, where were you, Weiss? Where'd you go?”  
“It's strange,” Weiss said, making an equally paper-thin excuse, “I really don't know.”  
“Found her wandering in the woods,” Yang said, reinforcing the lie, “can you believe it?”  
“Oh jeez, did you have to fight any Grimm to get to her?”  
“Maybe a few,” Yang said.  
“Like you wouldn't believe,” Weiss said, casting a pointed glance at Yang.

For now, at least, things were back to normal. No more aliens, no more ADVENT, no more Moira, no more Freeman, no more Captains Rex, Amari, Price, no more G36Cs or Saiga 12ks…

No more Pyrrha.

And no more talking about the war they fought that nobody they knew would understand. The war Weiss and Yang had helped win.

 

The next morning, while sorting through her things, Weiss found something that...didn't belong. It was a picture, but not one she remembered having before she left. Only seeing the blank back of it, she turned it over, revealing...a picture of Menace 1-5, taken right before Pyrrha had joined them permanently. Alan, Ludwig, Rex, Freeman, all of them were there.  
“Hey, Weiss,” Yang said, walking into their shared room, “do you-”  
Yang's words were cut short when she saw what Weiss was holding, and Weiss soon saw that Yang too had a picture. They compared the two – the exact same picture. Yang's was different though. On the back of hers, where Weiss's had been blank, someone had written, “To my eternal sisters from another planet – Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la.”

Yang didn't know what his last phrase meant, but Weiss remembered hearing Captain Rex say something similar. He had said it almost daily after Alan and Ludwig died, and she asked him one day what it meant.

Not gone, just marching far away.


End file.
